Remembering Echo
by Katla1
Summary: A series of one-shots centered around Echo Zane's antics after reuniting with the Ninja. Latest chapter: There's an attack in Ninjago City. Jay, Lloyd, Zane, and Echo are caught in the crossfire, and as they struggle to evacuate civilians, they are separated in the chaos. "Zane, I can't find him! He's not answering me!" (Takes place after season 10. No slash/no swearing.)
1. Remembering

**Dedicated to LittleCanadian**

**A series of connected one-shots centered around Echo Zane and his antics.**

**First story: Rescuing Echo from the lighthouse. (Takes place after season 10. Minor spoilers.)**

* * *

Jay gazed at the painting of Nadakhan on the wall in front of him. The Djinn hovered with four arms outspread, the Djinn Blade in one hand, the Realm Crystal in another, and anger carved onto his face for the rest of eternity. In the painting, Jay and Nya clasped hands where they stood in the Djinn's shadow, wearing looks of determination.

A slight tremble ran up Jay's spine, but otherwise he felt numb.

He'd put off looking at this particular painting for a long while. It had been hard enough to finally tell the team what had happened - hard enough to watch that piece of history be painted at all. The lack of detail in the picture compared to the others was a testament to how little of the story Jay and Nya actually remembered - or chose to remember. Much of that time was too painful to dwell upon.

For several minutes Jay just stared, trapped.

Did he want to remember?

_Nya lying in his arms, the life fading from her eyes... He wanted to scream, but everything was quiet. So quiet._

He shook his head.

When he looked up again he was able to see the painting as a whole. Nadakhan had posed as an unbeatable threat, but Jay and Nya had stuck together. They had pushed each other to never give up, to never give in to despair, bringing out the best in each other, and becoming closer as a result. That conversation they'd had in Dr. Julien's lighthouse had done a lot to bring them together and make their vision clearer.

Lighthouse...

Wait...

"Oh my gosh!" Jay backed away from the painting, eyes wide. "NYA!"

Nya, helping to fix the monastery gate, whirled around to see Jay charging across the courtyard toward her.

"NYA!" He panted. "We forgot Echo Zane!"

Nya gasped.

"Who is Echo Zane?" Zane asked.

* * *

The Bounty roared through the clouds over the ocean. Land had vanished from sight a long time ago, leaving only the vast expanse of water below and the chill breeze racing by their sails. Zane stood practically on tip-toe at the front of the ship, hands out on the rail, blue eyes straight ahead.

"So let me get this straight," said Lloyd, who hadn't been helping the others with the gate because he still needed to recover from the Oni attack. "Zane has a brother, and you forgot to mention it until now?"

"Hey!" Jay exclaimed. "You guys didn't remember anything at all. Nya and I are lucky we remembered bits and pieces!"

"Wow," Lloyd breathed, looking up at Zane standing at the ship's hull. "Zane's going to find his family."

"Well, you know he already has his family." Jay said, looking over at Cole, Kai, and Nya smiling under the covered part of the deck. "His family's just getting bigger."

"Please tell me this is not a dream you had, Jay." Zane spun to face them, his eyes shining, a smile waiting to appear. "Do I really have a brother?"

Jay grinned, almost going crazy with the number of butterflies in his stomach. "Yes, you do! Ah! I can't wait to see his face when he sees _your_ face!"

"What does he look like?"

"He looks just like you, Zane!"

"Ha ha!" Kai came forward from where he'd stood next to Nya at the wheel. "That's gonna be fun trying to tell the two Zanes apart everyday!"

"He doesn't look _that_ similar." Jay rolled his eyes. "He's, uh, a much simpler design. Dr. Julien didn't have fancy equipment like he did for the original." He went and knocked on Zane's titanium frame.

Lloyd laid a hand on his nindroid brother's shoulder. "This must be super special for you."

"Family is always special." Zane beamed back. He had recently almost lost his brothers, and now he was gaining a new one. "This also feels like a gift from my father. One more part of him he left behind."

He had so many questions. Some that Jay and Nya hadn't been able to answer, like why Dr. Julien had left Echo Zane behind. But any grim thoughts were quickly replaced with excitement. What would his echo think of him? Would it be awkward? Was Echo Zane friendly? Jay and Nya had described him as shy. What if he didn't even want to leave the lighthouse?

A sea bird swept over the Bounty, preparing to land before shying away. The painted sails trembled as if in anticipation.

"Lighthouse, dead ahead!" Nya called from the controls.

The whispy clouds parted in front of them, revealing the stone lighthouse standing patiently amidst the waves. As the Bounty approached, lowering along side it and as close to land as possible, the Ninja were greeted with a cool, salty breeze and the warm scent of sun baked red kelp on the rocks. Cole joined his brothers at the railing as Nya prepared to weigh anchor.

As soon as the anchor clanged on the rocks, Zane swung down, with Jay, Lloyd, Kai, Cole, and Nya right behind him. They landed with soft thuds on the dry stone and seaweed. Waves crashed below. As the Ninja made their way up the carved stairs leading to the lighthouse, they glanced around and gazed up at the lone structure.

"Sure has been awhile since we saw his place." Cole noted, eyeing the windows near the top.

They crowded around the door at the top of the stairs. Jay knocked on the heavy wood. Wind rushed over the whitecaps. A gull cried. Jay knocked again, the dull blows echoing throughout the interior beyond. The only reply was the crash of waves behind them.

"He's a little bit shy." Jay explained. "We had to go to him last time. He might be hiding in the secret basement?" He turned to Nya.

She nodded. "If we let ourselves in, I'm sure he'll come out."

Zane reached for the doorknob and turned it. With a squeak and a snick, the door cracked open, and the Ninja pushed inside.

Dust tumbled through rays of light from overhead, and deep shadows blanketed the winding staircase. The first step over the threshold echoed all the way up to the top of the stairwell.

"I guess we try downstairs first," Nya said.

They'd only gone a few steps when there came some tinny thunks from above. They all looked up to see a small robot rolling from stair to stair, steadily bumping his way down to them.

"Gizmo!" Jay and Nya exclaimed. Everyone grinned.

Gizmo dropped off the last stair and rolled up to them, chattering in greeting.

"It's nice to see you, too." Nya smiled.

The little robot turned and headed downstairs, the Ninja in tow, and left the sunshine behind. Each step creaked under their weight, accompanied by a small thud each time Gizmo reached the next stair. At the bottom, the tiny cleaning bot went ahead into a dark room with a sound, cobblestone floor. All was quiet. Besides the stacks of boxes barricading a wooden door, a control panel of some kind, and tools, the near lightless room was empty.

"Here's the secret panel!" Jay darted toward a hidden switch in the far wall and pulled it. The wall slid to the side, grinding on it's rusted track, and opened into a black tunnel. The Blue Ninja led the others down the wood ramp, every noise ringing off the walls, into the secret room.

Light streamed through a small, round window, lighting up gears, metal parts on shelves, crates, and papers. Unlike the storage room, it had a more lived in feel, and was relatively tidy, but like the other room, it too was silent.

"Where is he?" Jay's brow furrowed as he looked around.

"He could be upstairs," Nya suggested, joining him at his side.

Behind them, Zane gasped. Everyone turned around to see him staring into a dim corner.

"Oh!" Nya cried.

A chill ran over Jay's shoulders.

"Is that him?" Cole whispered, horrified.

Behind a pile of crates lay the remains of a metal, humanoid figure. Rust had corroded the body to the point of its limbs falling off. His jaw hung slack. His eyes were dull and covered in dust.

"Echo!" Jay leaped over to the unconscious nindroid and dropped to his side, Nya and Zane right behind him. Gizmo was already there, and bleeped out something Jay couldn't understand. The others watched over their heads.

"He's completely worn out." Nya bowed her head, fingertips resting on Echo's time-damaged power source: a steam-run clock.

Echo, slouched against the wall, chin tucked to his chest, looked as though he had never been alive. As if his inventor had quit before he even had him up and running. He was now just another scrap of metal left forgotten in an old lighthouse.

Jay laid a hand on Zane's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Zane did not taking his eyes off his copy. His brother.

Jay bowed his head. Nobody said anything. What could they say? There was a dead nindroid in front of them, and even though Zane had never met him before, he felt as though some deep connection had been shattered.

Echo did, in fact, look almost exactly like him, despite the decay. They had the same hair piece, the same sharp cheeks and jaw, and except for his mouth, the same face. The only real difference, sans rust, lay solely in how they worked: Zane being an advanced, titanium shelled fighting machine, and Echo a scrapped together, steampunk copy. But both of them had been built by their father's hand. Both of them had come to life because of a loving design. Only now one life had ended.

A solemnness settled over the Ninja, like it does at a funeral. Jay retreated deep inside himself, trying not to feel sick.

_This is all my fault. Why didn't I remember Echo? And after all he did for us! Why didn't I remember to tell Zane about him before?_

A few minutes of silence passed. Gizmo, his tiny cupped hand on Echo's arm joint, beeped out a little message. Zane fixed his gaze on him.

"What do we do now?" Lloyd whispered, as if afraid to speak.

"It doesn't feel right to just leave him here." Cole whispered back. He gnawed on his lip. "But..."

"He is still alive."

"What?" Lloyd asked Zane as Jay's head snapped up.

"I have just scanned him," Zane breathed, eyes still fixated on his brother. "He is still conscious."

"Yeeee..." Kai backed away with a light grimace.

"Well how do we wake him up?" Lloyd asked.

Nya and Jay scanned the outside of the dismantled nindroid. Gizmo chattered wildly, rolling back and forth.

"Is he saying anything?" Nya asked, examining Echo's clock.

Zane shook his head. "I can only tell his system is online. He is watching us, or aware of us. I am sure of it."

Jay moved to Echo's head, and Gizmo zipped out of the way. It felt bizarre to work on someone with no limbs; with only a head and a torso. While Nya checked the cog-work in their friend's chest cavity, the lightning ninja fingered around his face plate, easily prying the rusted metal off. Underneath lay the yellowed glass eyes, connected to wires and electrical paneling. A blue line of electricity wavered over Jay's fingers. Pinching the wires gently, he straightened the connections, allowing his power to flow into his friend.

_Please work, please work..._

Nya tugged at a bolt on the main pipe across Echo's stomach. The section of pipe underneath the bolt shifted away, rusted right through. Two red rimmed holes spotted the pipe an inch of the main damage.

"This entire pipe needs to be replaced." Nya pressed her hands on her knees.

"Then let's get him back to the Bounty!" Lloyd said.

Zane rose. "Help me lift him, Jay."

Jay continued to tamper with wires and things in Echo's face, touches of electricity creating soft "fitz" sounds.

"Crrrr! Mbm... Hoo?" Echo's jaw shifted up and down.

Everyone felt their mouths drop open except Jay, who sat as stiff as a rod, staring at the metal face in front of him. Zane fell to one knee beside Echo. "Hello?"

"Heh... rrrccrr!" Echo's eyes glowed and faded, flickering until they went dull again.

"Let's get him to the Bounty!" Nya jumped to her feet.

* * *

"Gee, I hope this works."

Jay took a step back from where Echo lay on the work table. Nya and Zane stood on either side of him. Echo lay on his back, limbs reattached with shiny new joints, face plate back in place with new screws, glass eyes polished, and, most importantly, the piping and wiring in his chest compartment replaced. Zane monitored the nindroid during the entire procedure, assuring everyone that his consciousness maintained intact.

All they could do was hope they'd reassembled him correctly. Nya filled his tank with water - which would steam up, power his clock, then pool back into liquid form and restart the process - and Jay wound the clock's hands and stepped back.

The other Ninja, who had been milling around the well lit work room, feeling useless and fidgety as anything, gathered around. If Zane had human lungs he would have been holding his breath, like Jay was. Echo's clock ticked like a heart beat. His pipes hissed as quietly as breathing. But his shiny, open eyes stared at nothing. Nya's shoulders sagged at her friend's coma-like state. They must have missed something.

Echo blinked. Everyone in the room straightened. The nindroid blinked again, creating a shuttering sound. His head tilted slightly. Then he seemed to catch sight of the Ninja, and turned his head more. He adjusted his arms and pushed himself into a sitting position.

A breath fell from Jay's open mouth, which lifted at the corner, and his eyes widened.

Echo looked from each colourfully dressed person in the room, blinking over and over, before his eyes rested on the people responsible for waking him.

"You two look familiar. Have we met?"

Jay laughed and hugged Nya, making her laugh, too. "He's awake! He's talking!"

Echo cocked his head at the joyful noise, one he had not heard in a long time. His eyes met Zane's, and he stared. He looked down at himself, then back at Zane.

_He looks just like me!_ "Hello!" Echo smiled.

Zane beamed at his brother. "Hello!"

* * *

**And here begins my Echo one-shot series: Remembering Echo. This is of course dedicated to Little Canadian, the biggest Echo Zane fan I know! Hopefully I'll publish more Echo content in the near future. If any of you have ideas/requests, feel free to voice them in a review. I hope to hear from some of you soon. Reviews are REALLY appreciated.**

**If you made it this far, I hope you liked it guys! Thanks SO much for reading!**


	2. Light

**Dedicated to ****kiap kiap, Bookkeeper2004, nindroidzane, and (guests) Isabella Camovic and JBomb217 for ****reviewing the first chapter. ****Thank you SO much! I'm honestly flattered by your kindness! Isabella, you requests are being incorporated into this chapter and future chapters. Thank you! And JBomb217: Thank you SO much for your kind review! I will definitely continue writing this!**

**Also dedicated to Little Canadian for helping brainstorm.**

**Second chapter: Echo goes to the Monastery, is fascinated by modern day appliances, bonds with Zane, and meets new people - one of them nobody expected to see. (Possible spoilers for season 10.)**

* * *

There was light.

It came instantaneously and flooded his vision - a blank, white, fuzzy slate in front of him. He blinked, a flash of black, then the fuzziness diminished somewhat. He blinked again, and this time everything cleared. A broad ceiling light hung over him. He became aware of the soft hissing from his pipework, a sound he had often listened for with anxiety and now heard with relief.

He was breathing again. Oh! He was breathing again!

Zane relaxed, head tilting to one side. Blobs of colour interrupted brown and grey. He turned for a better look.

Standing in front of him were six brightly dressed humans. Blue, grey, white, green, red, and black, all gazing at him with wide eyes. Zane adjusted his arms - he had arms again! - and pushed himself into a sitting position, legs stretching out on the smooth table. Excitement shimmered in the humans' eyes. He sensed their friendliness, which put him at ease. The freckled boy in blue seemed especially thrilled. Wait... that boy, and the girl in grey and blue next to him... had he met them before? Surely not. They were not in his memory base. Still, he felt as if he knew them.

"You two look familiar. Have we met?" He asked.

The boy cheered and pulled the girl in for a hug. "He's awake! He's talking!" The others in the room celebrated, too, patting backs and wearing wide smiles.

Their laughter sent a buzz through Echo's circuits. What a pleasant sound! As familiar yet unfamiliar as the boy and girl in front of him. He tipped his head to process it, and happened to glance at the white clad human beside the couple. Their eyes met, sending another jolt through Echo's system.

Metal! This human was metal - an android! Zane looked down at himself, scanning the new, silver joints in his knees, hips and arms. A patchwork of rust and shine. He looked back up at the other android, hit with recognition. He had seen his own blueprints many times. This android was nearly an exact replica.

_He was made by my father!_ "Hello!" Zane smiled.

The other Zane beamed at him. "Hello!"

"You know my father?"

The other Zane nodded, smile mellowing. "Yes. He was my father, too."

"Where is he?"

Everyone went silent. Regret transformed his double's features. The others looked ill to varying degrees. Zane looked from face to face but no one could maintain eye contact. There was a tense silence.

"Did he leave you?"

His double finally dared to meet his gaze. "He... could not live forever."

It was Zane's turn to look away. "Oh." He felt a light inside him burn out. "I understand. He is inoperative."

His duplicate placed a hand on his shoulder. "I am sorry."

Zane nodded. Then, to give himself something to do, he scanned his surroundings. He sat on a work table on one side of a well lit room. Shelves of tools lined the walls, and electronics he could not make sense of sat on the floor or on shelving. The floor and walls were built of wood planks. There was no stone or stacks of crates.

"Where am I? We have left the lighthouse."

"You are on the Destiny's Bounty," his replica explained. "Our flying ship."

Zane's gaze shot up. Flying ship?

"We're Ninja," the one wearing green told him, raising a hand in greeting, "and this is our headquarters."

Ninja. They had repaired him. He was free from the lighthouse. He was not trapped anymore.

He scanned the floor. "Where is Gizmo?"

"Don't worry," soothed the girl. "He's safe. We brought him back, too."

After a pause, the other Zane said, "This all must seem rather strange to you."

"Why don't we get Echo settled somewhere, Zane." The green ninja said, approaching the silver android's shoulder. "Show him around, let him get his bearings."

"Who is Echo?" Zane asked him.

"_You're_ Echo!" The blue ninja said. He had a loud, high-pitched voice. "You're Echo Zane."

"I am Zane," Zane frowned, confused, "built to protect those who cannot protect themselves."

"That is..." His double didn't finish.

"This is Zane," the blue ninja gestured to his copy.

"Jay..." the black ninja warned softly.

"You're _Echo_ Zane."

"Jay." the girl stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. She turned to Zane. Why were they calling him Echo Zane? Why were there two Zanes? "Echo... Dr. Julien did name you Zane, but before he built you, he built him." She turned to his double. "To make things easier we've been calling you Echo, to avoid confusion."

A glaze came over Zane's - Echo's - eyes. So the other Zane wasn't the 'other Zane' at all. He was the original Zane. That made Echo the copy.

Something in his pipes popped. He told himself to calm down. This didn't change anything.

Except for the fact that Zane - the real Zane - was clearly the more advanced of the two. Had their father loved him more? Is that why he had left him behind?

The girl left Jay's side to place a hand on Echo's unoccupied shoulder, so she was on one side and the real Zane on the other. "I know this is a lot to take in." She murmured.

Zane squeezed Echo's shoulder but stopped when he realized it didn't have the same effect on metal as it did on skin. Their eyes met, and earnestness shone in Zane's gaze.

"When Jay and Nya told me I had a brother, I could not wait to bring him home." Suddenly, Echo was held captive by those blue eyes. An emotion shimmered in them that he could not name, luring him in. "I wanted to get to the lighthouse as fast as I could. I could not imagine you being alone for so long.

"But when we got there, you were gone." Another emotion flashed in his eyes. "Or we thought you were gone. We found you dismantled and inoperative. I had not even met you yet, and already I felt I must not lose you. I could not bear it. "

Was Echo's clock ticking faster? He couldn't tell.

Zane seemed to decide what he would say next, and continued. "There are so many questions that will forever remain unanswered. But I know this: I am overjoyed to have you with us. We are brothers. We have a kinship that cannot break, even if everything else around us does. I will do anything it takes to help you see that, Echo. I hope you can feel safe and loved here."

Safe. Loved. That sounded amazing.

Echo must have looked enthralled. Zane smiled. "Love is very special, and very strong. It comes naturally to family. I'm sure you'll soon recognize this."

Echo looked at each of the ninja, who all wore soft smiles, and who all stood close to each other constantly.

"I think I understand," he murmured.

A tender look graced Zane's features, and Echo felt he might have understood even more.

He did feel loved, even if he still had to learn what love was exactly. And he definitely felt safe, which he guessed was part of love. He felt 'not alone'.

"You are Zane, and I am Echo..."

"And we are _both_ built to protect those who cannot protect themselves."

Echo smiled, and swung his legs over the table's edge before looking at the other. "Do they protect others, too?"

Everyone smiled at that, and Nya took the initiative to introduce them all. "I'm Nya, and that's Jay," Nya pointed, "that's my brother Kai, and that's Cole and Lloyd."

"You still need to meet Sensei Wu and my mom." Lloyd smiled.

"And PIXAL," added Zane.

"There's a lot of people to meet eventually," said Nya. "And a lot of places to see. But for now we'll take it slow. I want to check you over and make more repairs first."

* * *

Echo had rarely stepped outside the lighthouse before. There was little to step out onto, and the salt water ate away at his metal body as fast as an urchin munches kelp.

The first thing he noticed when he walked onto the deck of the Destiny's Bounty was the sunlight, blindingly bright and pure. His eyes adjusted to the brilliance, and he saw the sun directly overhead. They were so close to it! No wonder it was so bright.

The ship's deck, domed by sky, was the single largest space Echo had ever stood on. In the middle and near the front towered two massive masts. Wind billowed underneath the white sails, a red dragon crawling over the rippling surface.

Echo gazed up at the sails in awe, slowly roaming the deck. He stopped at the railing on the starboard side and looked down at the faded, grey stone and timber lighthouse that had been his home for so long. It seemed small all of a sudden, compared to the gigantic ship so high up.

Zane - it felt so strange to call someone else what had been his name for so long - joined him at the rail. An excited beeping noise sounded at their feet.

"Gizmo!" Echo beamed.

_Beebeebeep!_ Gizmo knocked on Echo's leg.

Echo lifted his leg, bending the knee, testing the joints, reveling in the fluid movement.

A roar shook the planks underneath him and Echo jumped, gripping the side of the ship for support. He whirled around to see Nya standing at a wheel on a raised, covered platform. She adjusted some levers, which presumably were the cause of the rumble, and the other ninja bustled around the platform pressing buttons, checking computer screens, or just following Nya's orders.

"Next stop, the Monastery! Kai, weigh the anchor. Jay, would you check the engine pressure? Somebody get Lloyd out of here!"

"I can press a few buttons, you know!" Lloyd complained. "I'm not helpless."

"Oh just be quiet and check on the robots like a proper host!" Nya teased.

Lloyd sighed, rolling his eyes, and walked down the stairs to the main deck, Jay trotting behind soon after him, and joined the two nindroids by the railing.

Zane looked him up and down. "Your ribs are almost healed," he told him.

"Stop x-raying me without permission!"

Jay laughed.

Trembling, the ship rose higher in the air, leaving the lighthouse far behind. Echo and the three ninja watched it shrink beneath them, until the most prominent thing was sky. The Destiny's Bounty spun round and took off over the sea. Wind buffeted their faces, and rushed past their ears. Leaning over the rail, Echo could feel the empty drop on the other side, and the sensation sent a thrill through his system as gusts of wind whistled against his metal casing. He met Zane's gaze and beamed. His brother beamed back.

They picked up speed, and the ship stabled. Instead of water, the Destiny's Bounty sailed on a sea of wispy clouds, and blue sky lay ahead as far as the eye could see.

* * *

"There's the Monastery!"

Echo looked down to where Zane was pointing. The Monastery seemed as at one with the sky as the Destiny's Bounty did. It perched atop a lofty crag, above a floor of clouds. The main building, built into the back walls, practically tipped off the edge. An attached, walled in courtyard gave it a sense of security. Walls and housing both had a black tiled roof and accents of gold and red. A winding staircase zig-zagged down the cliff. Sparse blossom trees clung to the stone.

It was the most beautiful place Echo had ever seen.

The engines thrummed as they shifted to bring the ship down to a lower altitude. The Destiny's Bounty swept past the mountain, gliding below the clouds, and navigated to the nearest body of water to land.

A long (long!) stair climb later, Echo and the Ninja stood before the massive wooden gates, framed with black posts and decorated with gold. Cole pushed the heavy doors open, and everyone walked inside.

Echo shrank beside Zane. The shadow of the Monastery loomed over him, and the sun glinted off the top of the pagoda that was the main part of the building. The courtyard tiles shone like gold, trying to match the pure gold dragon statue at its center. Grandeur surrounded Echo when he was only used to dust and grey stone.

"Sensei!" Zane waved.

An old man with a long white beard and wearing a rice field hat entered the courtyard. He smiled at them as he approached.

"Hello, Ninja. Hello Master Lloyd."

Lloyd and the Sensei Wu bowed to each other, and Echo was only further awed by their reverence.

"We brought a friend," Lloyd smiled, gesturing to their guest.

Zane stepped aside so reveal Echo Zane fully. Echo lifted his hand and gave a little wave.

"Well, hello," Sensei greeted, eyes darting between the two nindroids. "And who might you be?"

"Echo?" Echo looked at Zane for reassurance. His older brother nodded, giving him a warm smile.

"He helped us fight Nadakhan!" Jay explained.

Sensei hummed, gaze wandering to a mural on one of the courtyard walls. "So a new part of the story emerges."

"Who is Nadakhan?" Echo queried.

"A Djinn you helped us fight in another timeline." Nya motioned toward the mural. They all walked over to it, and Nya brought their attention to one of the eleven separate paintings. "It's a long story, and we forgot some details, but this is when we found you."

Dominating the picture was man with four arms, orange skin, and a tail of smoke instead of legs. He held a sword and a gem. Jay and Nya were painted beside him, and there were floating islands and a flying ship in the background.

He had helped fight this monster?

Echo scanned the rest of the mural. It told an action packed story of a long struggle between good and evil. He noticed that out of all the villains in the paintings, only one with black skin showed up multiple times.

"He has four arms, too. Who is he?"

Lloyd's gaze scraped the ground. "My father, Lord Garmadon."

His father! Echo turned to Lloyd in shock

"Forgive my manners, Echo." Wu said, turning to face him. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Echo made an attempt at a bow, like he'd seen Lloyd do, and Wu smirked.

"I'm glad to see that my students remembered such a courteous ally. It took them long enough." He smacked Jay and Nya's shoulders with his bamboo staff. "Feel free to make yourself at home. I'm sure Zane is eager show you around."

Zane nodded, eyes shining with delight. "Yes, Sensei."

"Thank you." Echo added.

"You have no need to thank me," Sensei Wu's smile crinkled the corners of his hooded eyes. "Why don't you tell me about yourself?"

* * *

"What is that?" Echo stared at the metal box.

"It's an oven," Zane explained, opening and closing the door.

"What does it do?"

"You cook with it."

"It heats up the food you put inside," said Jay.

"Just, please, don't try to use it until you learn how," Nya added from where she leaned against the counter.

They were in a room that Zane called "the kitchen." Echo looked around at all the hanging doors that held cans and boxes behind them, at the digital clocks that looked nothing like his clock, and at all the strange, square electronics like the one called "the fridge." Was the entire room really dedicated to food? The gulls at the lighthouse would love this place!

They'd already toured the living room and kitchen, explained where Wu's quarters were, and shown him the doors to the bedrooms and bathroom. "Though, I guess you won't need to go in there," Jay had said.

"Are there any more of these great inventions?" Echo asked, clacking together the two spoons he was holding.

Nya chuckled. "I've haven't heard a stove called a great invention before, but it must have been at some point." She smiled. "As for inventions, Jay and I invent things for missions all the time."

"Like the stove?"

"Like weapons and mechs."

"There was nothing like this at the lighthouse." Echo breathed.

"It'll take a little while, but you'll get used to it."

"Maybe you'll even come on missions with us!" Jay spotted a box of cereal someone had left on the window sill for some reason, and grabbed it for a quick snack.

"Wellll..." Zane looked unsure.

"What is _that_?!" Echo gasped, his spoons clattering to the floor.

Jay, still chewing a mouthful of Ninja-Os, glanced at the box in his hand. "Cereal?"

"No, not that. _That_!"

All three looked to see what he was so fixated on. On the sill, where the cereal box had hidden it, was one of those plastic flowers that bobs up and down when the sun shines on it. It was currently bobbing happily away, and Echo looked starstruck.

"That? That's just a little solar powered toy one of us bought on a whim." Nya watched the plastic plant dance in its pot.

Echo walked over, practically in a daze as he ignored Jay right next to him, and, treating it like one treats an ancient artifact, he picked the flower toy off the sill in both hands and held it up in front of his eyes. For a full minute he just stared at it, enthralled.

"You can keep it if you want." Nya told him.

"Thank you." He practically whispered.

Lloyd walked into the kitchen, and the attention was finally drawn away from the dancing plant, though Echo held it close. "My mom's coming. She's almost at the top of the stairs."

"Great!" Zane said. He turned to Echo. "Let us go meet her!"

Echo followed Zane and the others out of the kitchen and into the foyer, tucking his flower inside his open chest compartment (very carefully). Just as they were heading out the open screen door, Echo paused when he heard Cole and Wu chattering in the doorway to the next room.

"I'm tall enough, I could just snatch it right off your head!" Cole was saying with a huge grin on his face.

"But you wouldn't because I'm your Sensei." Wu's back was mostly turned to Echo, but he could hear the smile in his voice.

"Have you ever let _anyone_ touch it?" With a laugh, Cole made a grab for the rice hat on Wu's head. Wu blocked his wrist with his staff. "Aw c'mon! I did your hair in the First Realm!"

"We're leaving the past in the past!" Both of them laughed.

Echo smiled. Having wandered quite close while he was listening, he looked at the rice hat, and without really thinking, grabbed it, and put it on his own head.

Sensei whirled around to face the thief only to find a startled nindroid wearing his favourite clothing article. Echo froze on the spot.

"Why do you wear a black cap under your hat, Sensei?" Cole asked.

"Maybe if you were as quiet as Echo, I'd tell you!" Echo worried that he'd made the Master cross, but then Wu chuckled. "It seems we have another ninja in training. I do believe neither of us heard you coming, Echo."

Echo smiled, relieved.

"Hello, Echo!"

Echo leaped at the strange woman's voice, and dashed up the wall, onto the ceiling. The rice hat fluttered to the floor.

Zane laughed, startled by Echo's reaction. Jay and Nya were equally delighted, remembering how he'd shown them his housefly abilities in the lighthouse.

"Wouldya look at that!" Cole grinned.

"I can't think of a more useful trick for a ninja to have," Lloyd smiled.

Echo's head hung just a few inches above everyone else's. He looked down and noticed the grey haired woman standing with them. It looked like she'd gotten a good chuckle from the nindroid's antics. Her hands were still up around her face, and her eyes twinkled behind her glasses.

"I'm sorry for startling you!" She apologized. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. And I apologize as well." Echo said. "To you, and to Sensei." He turned to Wu. "I should not have taken your hat."

"Thank you, Echo. It's really alright." Wu smiled.

"Let me introduce myself properly," the woman held out her hand. "I'm Misako. I'm Lloyd's mom."

"Hello, Lloyd's mom!" Echo held out his hand, and promptly crashed to the floor.

"Are you alright?" Zane helped his brother to his feet.

"Yes." Echo checked to make sure his dancing plant had survived.

"Let's talk in the kitchen," Wu suggested. He placed his rice hat back on Echo's head, which made the droid practically light up like a bulb. "Misako, would you like some tea?"

* * *

The stars were so close on the mountain peak! At the lighthouse, Echo had compared them to pin pricks, or a beach of twinkling sand in the sky, but here at the Monastery, they shone like millions of blossom petals gleaming in another realm, pink and purple galaxies painting the night's canvas. Each blue star blazed as if alive. He felt as if they might be watching him.

A powerful quiet lay like mist over the Monastery. Instead of the constant crash of waves, there was only the gentle whisper of wind caressing the tile roof and hushing in the waving blossom trees outside the wall. All eight of the other residents were silently asleep in their rooms.

At first Echo had bunked in Zane's room, but unable to sleep - unlike the original prototype, he wasn't programmed for artificial sleep - Echo snuck out to sit on the front steps by the gate. As he sat, he kicked his feet for the fun of it, solely because he could. He could move with more freedom than he'd had in months, and that thought alone made the stars seem even brighter. The path down the mountain was lit by starlight.

The clouds below the mountain top curled over the staircase like soft blue smoke, dappling the stone with shadows. One of the shadows moved, and Echo focused on it, checking to see if it was clouds shifting. The shadow grew larger as it came closer, causing the nindroid to stiffen. Out of the fog stepped a tall, dark figure. Echo leaped to his feet.

The man - if he could be called a man - was of towering height, and had black, coarse skin, four arms and red eyes. When he spotted Echo he stopped, and his piercing, crimson gaze caused Echo to rust up all over again. He froze in that glare, barely noticing the devil's fangs or the hole ripped in his chest that revealed ribs and dried, purple blood.

He looked different, fiercer, more terrible, but Echo recognized him almost immediately. The man from the mural. Lloyd's father.

"You are Lord Garmadon!" Echo whispered, his voice sounding too loud in the clear mountain air.

"It seems you already know my name." Garmadon's voice, not guttural in the least, came out as a smooth rasp, like a cat's tongue over naked skin. "Though I can't say I know yours, unless the white ninja completely let himself go. Which trash heap did they haul you out of?"

"I am Echo Zane, built to protect - " Echo threw up his fists in a fighting stance as Lord Garmadon took a step forward.

"Who's going to protect you?" Garmadon asked as he stalked closer.

"I cannot let you inside!" Echo kept up his stance, unable to fathom how he could possibly fight such a powerful enemy.

"Is that so?" Garmadon stopped. Up close, with his horn-like samurai helmet and the star-glow highlighting his muscle, he looked even more formidable. But his halt gave Echo pause. Was he not going to attack?

"Why are you here?"

"I merely wanted to see if anyone was home."

Echo squinted, scanning Garmadon's face for any change in expression.

"I do not think I can trust you."

"You can't." Garmadon kept the same dead-pan frown.

Echo was intrigued, though he didn't drop his fists.

"Are you here to see Lloyd?"

Garmadon scoffed. "Why would I climb all this way to see one miserable weakling?!" he snapped.

Echo did not reply.

When he did not receive a response, Garmadon grunted in the back of his throat. "I hear the Green Ninja is still licking his wounds. Pathetic."

"I do not think Lloyd is pathetic."

"Don't you." His voice dripped with boredom.

"No. I think he is very strong."

"Oh yes, he's very strong with those broken ribs of his. You should have seen how strong he looked splatted out on the pavement!" This time, Garmadon averted his gaze, glaring at the cliff.

"I think he is strong precisely for overcoming those hardships." He wasn't sure which event Lord Garmadon was referring to, but he remembered the mural. "How hard must it be to keep moving when every step hurts? To keep leading with a smile, as he has done, despite all the terrible things that have happened? He makes it look so easy." It was Echo's turn to look away, but he quickly continued. "No, he is definitely strong, for sure. And brave, and many other good things. All the Ninja are."

"Hmm. How inspiring." Tone still dry, Garmadon allowed his eyes to meet Echo's again. "I'm leaving now. Seeing as the Green Ninja is so _strong and brave_, I don't want to stick around where he can find me." He turned to walk back down the mountain.

Echo watched him go, realizing that at some point he had abandoned his fighting stance and his hands hung at his side.

"Wait... why did you come up here again?"

Garmadon whirled around, a clawed hand pointing at Echo like a weapon. "I forbid you from telling anyone I was here! Delete it from your memory, or whatever it is you do. Nobody must know but us."

That left Echo feeling uncertain as to what he should do, but after one last powerful stare, Garmadon turned around again and disappeared under the cloud cover, melding into the shadows.

For a long time, Echo watched the spot where the man had vanished. His encounter with him hadn't been anything like he might have expected it to be. The Garmadon in his mind would have screamed, laughed maniacally, and attacked on the spot, but the real Garmadon did none of those things. The Garmadon he'd just met had been intimidating, sure, but just as surprised to see Echo as Echo was to see him. Mostly the real Garmadon seemed empty, almost devoid of emotion. Sad.

After awhile, the greys and blues on the mountain side were tinged with pink and pale gold. Somewhere underneath the sea of clouds the sun was rising. Echo sat down to watch the most amazing sunrise he'd ever witnessed. It sparkled on the petals of the blossom tree and spilled through the glass-like morning air. A bird trilled out a good morning song so different from the cries of the gulls he'd heard every day of his life.

"Echo!"

Echo twisted to look over his shoulder at the voice calling him from inside the Monastery. The sunrise warmed the outer wall with a golden glow, beginning to pour over into the courtyard through the open gate. The voice called again from inside: "Echo!"

Echo smiled and pushed himself to his feet, jogging back inside the Monastery. The sun glinted off his metal body, and a family waited for him inside his new home.

* * *

**I think I like this chapter better than the other one. I was only two sentences in and I could tell it would be better. XD It's also twice as long. And... ok!... OMG! I LOVED writing the scene where Echo meets Garmadon SO much! I think I may have introduced it premature in the story, but I really wanna know what you guys thought of it! My sister gave me the idea and I just had to do it.**

**If anyone has suggestions to improve my Echo stories, PLEASE let me know. I want to be worthy of your attention!**

**Thanks to all who took time out of their day to read this. Have a fantastic week! Stay inspired! And God bless!**


	3. Cinnamon Roll

**Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed last chapter! Guest, Isabella Camovic, JBomb217, Bookkeeper2004, kiap kiap, nindroidzane, EchoJulien, and Dr. Fluffmuffin, your words really boosted my spirits! I honestly felt that these chapters fell short of what I wanted them to be, and worried my characters were too different from their show counterparts. To know you enjoyed them and they gave you at least a bit of feels makes me so happy!**

**Isabella, I apologize that your request didn't make chapter 3. IT'S COMING SOON! It's written, I just need to transfer it from paper and finish the ending. It almost made it. It'll probably be chapter 4.**

**Third Chapter: A short stand-alone, in which Echo is compared to a cinnamon roll.**

* * *

Rivers of rain drummed against the window panes of the Monastery. Inside it was strangely quiet. The Ninja were lounging around or trying to kill time. The power had gone out, so any light in the house came from candles - their tiny yellow flames dancing brightly against the dingy grey rooms.

Jay lay slumped on the couch, completely bored. In his hands he held a cookbook, though he couldn't remember when or how he'd picked it up. He turned the pages one at a time, eyelids drooping, gazing at pictures of baked goods he couldn't eat because the stove wouldn't turn on.

"Echo's a cinnamon roll," he said suddenly.

Nya and Kai looked up from the family album they were poring through.

"What?" Nya asked.

"He's a cinnamon roll," Jay repeated, eyes still half closed and downcast on the page. He put his finger down on the words and followed them as he spoke, "Cinnamon roll, a sweet roll... add flour so the dough doesn't stick... bake until golden brown... made in Denmark." He turned the book around for them to see.

"He's even the same colour." Kai noted.

Nya gave him a weird look.

Kai turned to her. "You know. He's sweet, he's warm, he's been through undeserved suffering."

"How has a cinnamon roll been through undeserved suffering?"

"Baking? Getting chewed up and swallowed? No pastry has asked for that!"

Nya rolled her eyes.

"You've never heard the term cinnamon roll before?" Kai started to sound incredulous.

"Nope."

"You don't spend enough time on the internet." Kai went back to looking at a picture of him and a much younger Lloyd wrestling.

"You spend _too_ much time on the internet."

"I wasn't even thinking of the internet," Jay murmured from behind the cookbook. "Echo Zane is the very definition of a cinnamon roll. He looks _just_ like one."

"You guys are weird," Nya muttered, not looking up from the photo album.

The rain continued to batter against the window, casting spotted shadows over the wall. Echo walked into the room, carrying a paper and pencil.

"Echo, you're officially a cinnamon roll." Jay told him.

"What do you mean?" Echo asked, tilting his head.

Jay responded with a grunt, laying back and placing the cookbook over his face.

This left Nya shaking her head and the cinnamon roll standing there in confusion.

_-Fin_

* * *

**AN: I dunno if you guys noticed, but Lego, and therefore Echo Zane, is made in Denmark. Just like cinnamon rolls. (Or as they call them: cinnamon snails.)**

**I hope this entertained you! I know it was short. Thank you for lending this little story your time!**


	4. That Tickles!

**Dedicated to Isabella Camovic for her submission.**

**And thanks to everyone who commented on chapter 3! EchoJulien, Isabella Camovic, LittleCanadian, kiap kiap, Sunny Lighter, Bookkeeper2004, Dr. Fluffmuffin, LucyBrick123, nindroidzane, Syren Nolbuluuki (Wow, there's so many of you!) your reviews mean SO much! **

**Fourth Chapter: As Nya attempts to convert Echo over to electric power, the electricity sends Echo into a giggling fit. Zane gets a good chuckle out of it, but after he and the others tell Echo what tickling is, Echo spends the rest of the day ambushing people and tickling them.**

**Post Season 10! You've been warned! :)**

* * *

"Okay Echo, hold still."

Echo sat rod straight, perched on the workshop table, chin tipped upwards. Nya knelt in front of him, peering into his open chest/stomach compartment. She reached toward the back, past all the pipes and gears, trying not to pinch her fingers.

Unable to resist watching for long, Echo looked down at her as she squinted her eyes and screwed up her mouth. She and Jay had been frequently opening him up to examine how he worked and to figure out a way to upgrade him. It still felt strange having a person prod around in his inner mechanism. He'd grown somewhat used to it, and he trusted Jay and Nya, but deep down it still unnerved him. He felt vulnerable. He never said anything about it, though. They were trying to help him. He wouldn't be alive if it weren't for them, so he chose to remain silent.

To ease the tension he felt, he asked, "Am I beautiful on the inside?" He smiled at his attempt at a joke.

Nya chuckled, briefly losing her spot. She adjusted her position and reached both hands around his gears, a tiny screwdriver in one hand, and a metal circuit in the other.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm trying," she shifted position again, "to see... if I can fit an electrical system back here. If we can slowly conform you to electric power, like Zane, you'll run a lot smoother."

"Ok," he said. He giggled, a tinny, glitch-like noise.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing." He giggled again, the same, metallic ripple of sound.

Nya looked at him chortling quietly to himself. "No, seriously. What's so funny?"

"I feel funny."

"Funny how?" Her brow furrowed.

"Nothing is wrong," he assured her. His laughter was robotic, yet light and echoey.

"Okaaaay..." Fresh nerves wriggled in her stomach. After making sure she hadn't damaged anything, she finished attaching the electrical circuit behind Echo's gears. Echo quieted, the 'funny' feeling seeming to have faded.

Nya attached a battery to the electrical circuit and spent the next few hours running wires from the circuit through Echo's limbs. At the same time, she covered his pipes and clock with rubber so electricity wouldn't mix with the water and metal and shock his system. When she finished, she disconnected his arms and legs from their steam power. They fell limp at his side, and he eyed his now useless limbs.

"Do you feel okay?" She asked.

Echo nodded.

"Okay," she sat back a bit, her pulse racing. "First test. When I turn it on give it a second, then try to move your arms and legs."

"I am ready."

She reached back in and switched on the power. It reacted with a small 'zap', and a green light on the battery blinked on.

_So far so good - _

Echo burst out laughing, his laugh ringing like a bell in Nya's ears. Hugging himself, he doubled over, legs swinging, almost kicking Nya in the face.

Nya fell back in shock, heart missing a beat. "What happened? What's happening?!"

Echo continued to laugh until his metal shook. "It is - it... oh ha ha ha!" His hands grasped at something inside of him.

Nya lunged forward and switched off the electricity, hands bruising against the jostling gears. She yanked her hand out.

Echo's limbs went limp. Still laughing, the same sharp, clear sound, he lost his balance and fell flat on his back.

"Are you alright?" Nya gasped.

"Y-yes!" Echo's fit dwindled down to tittering. "What - tee hee! - happened?"

"That's what I want to know." She stood, hands on hips. "You must have had a reaction to the electricity. I wonder how I could fix that."

Smiling at the ceiling, Echo chuckled. "That felt so strange! Not entirely unpleasant, but strange." He chuckled again, shutting his eyes.

"I'll reconnect your arms and legs to steam power."

Even after Nya had completed the task and Echo could move his limbs again, he couldn't stop giggling. Nya checked him over, but didn't see anything wrong.

"I guess it'll have to wear off," she said, shutting his stomach compartment. "We're done for now."

Echo jumped off the table, snickering through his teeth when his feet hit the floor. She handed him his tan-coloured hoodie, and they left the workshop and made their way up to the Bounty's deck, Echo giggling and squirming the whole way. The sun's white rays shone off Echo's smiling face.

"What does it feel like?" Nya asked.

"I am a nindroid, I have not felt much before. It is a fascinating experience." He glanced upward, smile twitching with supressed laughter. "It feels like static. Fuzzy."

Skyward came the roar of a jet. Jay's sleek blue Storm Fighter blared over the Bounty, thin smoke pooling around the engines and lightning snapping off the wings. It stopped, and vanished in a flash of light, the pile of ninja inside falling in a heap on the deck. They all groaned as they tried to untangle themselves. Jay was the first to get up, swinging the Nunchucks of Lightning happily.

"That's the dumbest thing I've agreed to in a long time." Cole cracked his back and stepped over Lloyd.

"I told you we would not all fit," Zane grumbled, pushing himself to his feet.

Nya and Echo strolled over to them.

"How was patrol?" she asked Kai as he got up.

"Better than the ride home," Kai said, dusting himself off.

Everyone on their feet, they all checked over their weapons or started to go their separate ways. As Zane came near, Echo emitted his blip-like little laugh, bowing slightly.

Zane smiled. "What is so funny?"

"I feel fuzzy!"

"Fuzzy?"

"Staticky."

"Staticky?" Jay, overhearing the conversation, frowned.

Echo giggled.

"I tried switching him over to electric," Nya explained. "He's had the giggles ever since."

Zane scanned his giddy younger brother, smiling when he sensed nothing wrong with him. "It will probably wear off soon. Does it feel ticklish?"

"Ticklish?" Echo asked with a grin.

"It makes you laugh and feel all squirmy," Jay said.

"Like this!" Cole grabbed Jay from behind and started tickling him under the ribs. Jay burst out laughing, wriggled and kicked. His feet flew off the ground but he couldn't escape. Echo laughed with him, surprised and delighted.

"Ok, ok! Ah ha ha! Ow! Stop!" He begged.

Cole let him go and he sagged down on the deck, lying gasping and grinning on the smooth boards.

Echo looked down at himself, and pulled at the front of his hoodie. "Aw, the tickly feeling is gone."

Zane laughed, then told a relieved Nya, "I told you it would wear off."

"Let's go inside. I'm hungry!" Cole pulled Jay to his feet.

Following his lead, everyone went below deck (except for Lloyd and Kai, who decided to have a sparring match; Kai claimed a Golden Weapon couldn't be beaten - not even by the Green Ninja.)

"Do you ever experience this 'tickly' feeling, Zane?" Echo asked as they clomped down the stairs.

"In different forms, I suppose."

"Jay's ticklish everywhere!" Cole beamed as he rounded the corner, making for the kitchen.

"Cole!"

"Why didn't I know about this?" Nya teased, eyeing her boyfriend playfully. "Though I wouldn't expect anything less when it comes to you."

Jay hopped away from her. Thinking he was out of all ticklers' reaches, the Lightning Ninja let his guard down, and Zane took the opportunity to nab his sides, causing him to squeal with laughter. He jumped out of his brother's reach and darted away, keeping a sharp watch on him, eyes dancing. Echo watched their fun while feeling a softer sort of fuzziness inside. They joked back and forth, mostly at Jay's expense, and Jay leaped out of reach with a wide grin when Zane got in close again.

"You're lucky you're only ticklish on the inside, Echo,"

"Come on, Jay, tickling can be so much fun!" Nya grinned.

"It looks fun," Echo said.

"It is." Nya put an arm around Jay before he could get away.

"I wish I could feel it." It was impossible without creasable skin. Metal couldn't flex or feel.

"That is why we do it to them, instead." Zane smirked at Jay.

"Don't you dare!"

Echo smiled.

* * *

Nya sat on her bunk, leaning over the little makeup mirror in her hand, and practically holding her breath as she applied wings around her eyelashes. The pencil left her skin, hovering statue still by her eye, before she sighed with relief and allowed her hand to fall away from her face.

She put her makeup kit away in the drawer under her bunk and pulled out a tube of red lipstick from her purse at her side, standing to leave. She and Jay were going on a date, but Jay hadn't told her where they were going yet. As she popped off the cap and lifted the tube to her lips, she smirked. Jay was so cute when he tried to be romantic and mysterious.

"Ha!"

Someone's fingers dug into her sides as she stepped through the bedroom door, and the lipstick careened across her cheek. She gasped and twisted.

"Jay!" The name flew from her lips, but when she turned around it was not Jay, but Echo standing there, still wiggling his fingers.

"What are you doing?" She tried not to sound flustered.

"Tickling you," he stated innocently.

"Oh!" Nya forced herself not to reach for the red streak staining her face. _Alright, Nya, don't hurt his poor little feelings. _"I'm sort of busy right now, but why don't you go tickle Kai?" A smiled tugged at the corner of her mouth. "I suppose this makes us equal... since I messed with your system, you messed with my makeup."

"Sorry."

"It's okay." _At least he waited until my wings were finished!_ "Now go get my brother! Oh, and film it so I can watch when I get back!"

Echo grinned and dashed down the hall. Nya couldn't help but chortle at that.

* * *

"I told you the Sword of Fire would come out on top!"

"What are you talking about?" Lloyd grinned. "I won almost every time."

"Get outta here, Green Machine!" Kai elbowed him in the arm. They laughed.

Both Green and Red Ninja clomped down the stairs below deck, grinning from ear to ear, gis soaked with sweat.

"Your punches were pretty sloppy," Kai noted.

"And yet I still won." Lloyd's grin didn't waver. "As for my _sloppy punches_, I didn't want to wrinkle your outfit."

"Oh ha ha!" Kai rolled his eyes. "You couldn't wrinkle it if you tried. No one can touch me!"

"Touch!" Lloyd bumped shoulders with him, causing the Fire Ninja to bang into the side of the bathroom doorway at the end of the hall.

"Hey!" Kai laughed.

"Touch!" Echo jumped out of the closet and tackled Kai.

"What the heck!" Kai dropped to the ground with a thud out of pure shock. Echo was instantly on top of him, tickling his belly.

Kai screamed with laughter, clutching his stomach, eyes shut tight and leaking tears. When he tried to roll away, Echo pinned him down and kept up the tickle attack. Soon Kai was gasping for air. Lloyd clutched the doorframe to keep from falling over, laughing so hard no sound came out. He sucked in a breath, clutching his chest.

"Alright STAHP! STOP!" Kai wheezed. Echo got off him and Kai shakily sat up, still snorting. He looked up at Echo, unable to keep the grin off his face. "Why," he gasped, "why are you wearing the Go-Pro?"

"Nya said to film it," Echo beamed.

"Aw, NYA!" Kai flopped onto his back, head striking Lloyd's feet. All three of them laughed.

"You think that's so funny?" Kai grinned up at Lloyd. "Echo, get 'im!"

"No!" Lloyd cried, springing out of reach. Echo pounced toward him. They ran circles around the Fire Ninja on the floor, and soon a hilarious chase ensued down the hall.

"Kai! Call him off!"

"You're welcome!" Kai shouted after them.

* * *

Cole and Zane's heads jerked up when they heard the shrieks growing louder and closer, the recipe suggestions Cole was offering his disturbed brother immediately forgotten. A green blur sped into the kitchen, a copper one right behind him.

"Cole, save me!" Lloyd shouted.

"What?" Cole couldn't process the screams and smiles before Lloyd launched himself over the small kitchen table and behind the Earth Ninja. Echo dashed around the after him.

"No, no, Echo! Get him! Get Cole!" Lloyd exclaimed, breathless.

"No way!" Cole laughed, shuffling around the table, Echo hot on his heels. Lloyd leaned his weight on Zane, catching his breath, and they watched the two orbit around the table and chairs, feet thudding on the wooden floor.

"Come here!" Cole turned around and grabbed the nindroid in a bear hug. Echo still managed to jab him under the arms. "Okay, okay, you got me!" Cole laughed, setting him down.

Not easily tired, Echo poked him again, and then reached over and poked Zane's sweatshirt. He paused, remembering in that moment that, as a nindroid, Zane couldn't be tickled. But Zane beamed, poking him back. Both of them laughed, poking each other back and forth. Even with metal bodies, they both felt the affection that grew with physical touch. By the time the tickle fest ended, everyone in the room felt 'fuzzy'.

* * *

The lights below deck were off, leaving the rooms and hall dark. All was quiet except for the hum of the Bounty's engine as Nya guided the boat to harbour. She and Jay had come back late from their romantic excursion, and the others were either in or getting ready for bed. Zane padded down the hall, glancing through any of the open doors. When he came to the broom closet, he found it unlocked and opened it.

"Jay?" Zane's eyebrows rose at the sight of the blue ninja crammed in the closet. "I thought you were at the helm with Nya."

"Where's Echo?"

"I was just looking for him. What are you doing in here?"

"I'm the only one he hasn't ambushed today!" Jay hissed, peering down the dim hall. "He's after me next, and he never sleeps! There's not one inch of me that's not ticklish, Zane. I'm too irresistible!"

Zane smiled at him. "Go to bed, Jay. He knows not to disturb anyone after lights out."

Jay tip-toed out of the closet, looked both ways, and raced for their quarters.

Zane shook his head, smirking, and went above deck. Wisps of clouds breezed past the sails, and stars twinkled in the dark blue sky.

Echo's silhouette stood out against the stars from where he gazed at them from the railing. Zane watched him in silence for a moment before looking for Nya at the wheel. They made eye contact and smiled. The crisp night air calmed them. With a final glance Echo's way, Zane went back downstairs to his bunk, letting his brother stay to dream up another day of mischief.

* * *

**If you like this chapter, thank Isabella Camovic for the idea! I will be honest, it gave me a bit of trouble at first and/or I wasn't feeling inspired, but after I hit a certain point, I did enjoy writing it. I hope it's alright. Humor/laughs are not my strong point. Isabella, I hope you like my spin on this. After watching Echo have the time of his life tripping up baddies in Skybound's final episodes, I figured he was a bit of a prankster at heart. :) **

**To everyone who has supported me so far, THANK YOU! Four chapters in, and I'm a bit astonished by all the reviews and praise I've gotten. It's really encouraging, and I want you to know that you are all AMAZING! If there's anything you see for me to edit/improve, PM me. I always like to go back and edit. **

**I hope you all have an awesome day! God bless!**


	5. Upgrades

**Thank you EchoJulien, Bookkeeper2004, Syren Nolbuluuki, Isabella camovic, JBomb17, Drawkill Vear and Lycaran, and Dr. Fluffmuffin for your kind reviews! You guys really brighten my day! I wasn't expecting "That Tickles!" to garner the praise it did, but my sister was laughing her head off and said it might be her favourite chapter. :D**

**I****sabella, I'm so glad you enjoyed the previous chapter! :D It was for you after all. I want to thank you for all the requests you send in. I do write them down. I won't be able to publish your latest requests for awhile, since I have a whole list I need to get to, but I promise I will get yours eventually!**

**JBomb17: Thanks so much! Your _review_ was amazing! I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter!**

**Fifth Chapter: Even though they've removed the rust, Jay and Nya think Echo is ready for a full upgrade. After things go horribly wrong, Echo flees into hiding, plagued with glitches. The Ninja set out to find him, but how can they when Zane won't tell them where he is? (****Warnings: I know _zero_ about electronics, so experts reading this will probably cringe. I also allude to season 10 episode 97, "The Fall" in this chapter.)**

* * *

Most people are afraid of going to the doctor. Sometimes the fear comes on its own, other times it's born out of trauma.

Echo sat on the edge of the table in the Bounty's workshop, bumping his heel against the table leg. He watched Jay and Nya prepare the tools and equipment they'd need for the upcoming procedure, including swaths of coloured wires and new metal plating.

He'd lived with the Ninja for several weeks, and honestly he could not think of a time he'd been happier. Every day he discovered and learned something new. Everyday the Ninja left him in awe, made him laugh, and _feel_. Being part of a family after being alone for so long... it felt amazing.

Gizmo blinked and bleeped on the floor below his feet. Echo smiled at him.

Well, he had not been entirely alone. And he was not the only one who'd been fixed up, either. Gizmo's body had been polished to shine.

Jay dropped something on his toe with a _bang_ and hopped around with a string of made up curses.

This was it: a full upgrade. Despite the comic relief, Echo only felt tension. His smile vanished. It wasn't just a rust removal this time, nor new screws, nor an adjustment to his joints. This time his entire body would be remodeled. As he stared at Jay and Nya, he listened to the near silent puffing of steam inside him, as well as the heartbeat of his clock. The white light overhead flickered once.

Zane walked in the door and looked from Jay and Nya to Echo. He walked over to his brother's side. Echo glanced at him and went back to watching the other ninja.

"Are you nervous?" Zane asked.

"Nervous..." Were nerves what was bubbling inside him? Should he be nervous? The upgrade would help him work better. Everything he did would be easier. He would be a better protector, like the Ninja. He should be excited. He continued to kick the table with a soft _clunk, clunk, clunk_.

"Are you ready, Echo?" Jay smiled as he came over.

"Yes," Echo nodded as Nya joined them.

"Lie down, then," Nya said.

Echo did as requested. His favourite tan hoodie had already been taken off and folded, so he laid his head on it. His arms rested at his side, and he wiggled his feet. What would they feel like after everything was finished?

"This might feel a bit strange," Nya informed, as if reading his mind. "But when we're done, everything should run a lot smoother."

Echo settled down, readying himself to stay still for the hours he would be dismantled and repaired. Gizmo chattered under the edge of the table. Echo looked up at Zane standing over him. "Are you staying?" An involuntary tremor ran through him.

Zane smiled. "Of course."

"Ready, Echo?" Nya asked.

"Ready." Echo relaxed. Everything would be fine.

Screwdrivers in hand, Jay and Nya went to work removing the old, crusty steel plates encasing his inner mechanics. Echo's gaze flickered from person to person as they worked.

"First one off," Jay announced, setting aside the metal from Echo's collar bone. The first piece gone... Already Echo felt bare. Nya removed the metal covering his arm. Then from his ribs, revealing the cage underneath.

Zane watched every move they made. If Echo looked at him, he smiled, only to let it fall as soon as he looked away. With each passing moment, more and more of his brother was dismantled. He scanned him frequently.

Hours went by, the silence only interrupted by the scraping, clanking, and whirring of tools and metal, and the quiet communication between Jay and Nya. Echo said nothing as he watched them work.

At last, he was stripped of his metal shell, leaving him with a starved appearance. When Echo looked down at himself it felt like an out of body experience. Thin sheets of metal like sinews intertwined over each other; pipes, tubes, and wires running like veins over and under, leading to his core where they gathered around clicking gears.

"Is the electricity on?" Nya queried. Jay reached in and flipped a small switch. Echo giggled. Zane smiled.

Nya shut off the steam power, double checking the wires connected to Echo's "heart". Jay pulled a coil of wires onto the table, and, bit by bit, they removed gears and spools of tubes, replacing them with wiring, and leaving his clock hanging amidst strings of colour. Drowsiness settled over Echo. He rested his head on his folded hoodie, shadows blurring the corners of his vision.

A voice - he could not tell whose - sounded far away as it said it was time to replace his clock with an electrical box. He saw their hands working around his core, and blackness crept over his eyes, relaxing him. Hmm... this must be what sleep feels like. His eyes closed. The fading feeling only grew stronger, and he felt a flash of panic for one second before everything ceased to exist.

Zane watched his eyes close just has he received the results of his scan. Cold fear flared up inside him. He grabbed Echo's bare, thin shoulders, and his gaze snapped to Jay and Nya in horror.

"Stop!" he yelled. "Something is wrong! Stop now!"

Jay and Nya jumped, eyes wide, the fear spreading to them in a heartbeat.

"What? What's wrong?" Jay's voice shook.

"There is no internal activity! He has shut down one hundred percent!"

Jay dove to undo the damage, fingers flying to re-clip the wires onto Echo's clock. Nya leaped into action beside him. Her blood pounded in her ears and her head felt light, her hands stiff, as she helped reattach the couple of wires they had removed to make way for the more powerful energy source.

_What have we done? What have I done?! _

"Hurry!" Zane pleaded, eyes searching Echo's face for movement.

At their feet, Gizmo was going ballistic. Bleating, lights blinking, and zooming back and forth, adding to the chaotic atmosphere. Nya felt sick to her stomach.

Fingers slipping, precious minutes having ticked by, she connected the last wire to the clock. Jay had run wires up Echo's exposed throat and beneath his face plate and eyes. Power should be charging every corner of the nindroid's body.

"Nothing is happening." Zane's voice quivered.

With a grunt, Jay examined the clock with his fingertips, pressing on it, and feeling the flow of energy. Eyes hard, jaw working, he bent the electricity, occasionally asking Nya to adjust a wire. A loud buzz zinged in the air over Echo's lifeless form. There was a loud _ZEET_, and Echo's eyes flung open.

"Thank goodness," Jay sighed, sinking down on the table.

Echo blinked several times, then lifted his head. He stared at them. Maybe it was the impression of exposed muscle, but a strange, un-Echo like vibe came off of him.

"You all look familiar. Have we met before?"

"No..." Zane breathed.

Echo sat up and looked at all of their crestfallen, horrified faces. "Is there anything wrong? Perhaps if you t-t-old me," his voice spasmed, "who you were, I could hel-"

"You _know_ who we are, Echo!" Jay cried with tight fists.

Echo frowned. "I cannot p-l-l-l-ace you in my memory." The glitch continued to tear apart his voice. "I believe you have mista-a-a-ken me for someone else."

"No!" Nya shook her head. "No, no, no! We made a completely different mistake, which I intend to fix right now!" She reached for his head.

"What are you doing?" He leaned away from her.

"Hold still." Zane rested a hand on his shoulder, wearing a pained expression. "She is going to help."

_Bleebur_, Gizmo bleeped from the floor.

Nya positioned herself behind him and searched for his memory bank. He didn't move, but tracked her movements out of the corner of his eye.

"There!" She connected the memory circuit to a few thin cords, bringing it up to date with the rest of his system. Echo's back went rod stiff, and his eyes went wide. After a few seconds, he sagged a bit, then stared at his knees.

"Echo?" Zane said quietly, leaning over to look in his brother in the eye.

Echo looked up at them, and the nightmarish fear - an emotion he'd never shown - racing through his eyes made Nya want to throw up.

"Are you okay?" Jay winced.

Echo studied his skeletal hands, examining each wire-like finger.

"Echo?"

"Please reassemble me," he said, not looking up. "Pl-l-l-ease."

"Alright," Jay agreed sadly, shoulders drooping.

He and Nya worked in silence, screwing the bright new metal on - gold in tint to remind them of he's previous appearance as well as to tell him apart from Zane. However, before they could cover his limbs or close his stomach/chest compartment, Echo slid off the table and fled from the room. Gizmo zoomed after him.

"Echo!" they called. He didn't respond.

* * *

"We need to fix those glitches! There could be more we don't know about, and because he's still open like that, things could get a million times worse!" Jay exclaimed as he tore through all the closets.

"We must find him," Zane stated, brows drawn in worry, jaw tense.

Nya peaked into the health ward, unable to relinquish her guilt. How could she have let this happen? Hadn't she learned anything after what had happened to Cole? Was she going to keep hurting her teammates like this?

"Let's just do only what's immediately necessary, and make sure he's okay," she managed to say past the tightness in her gut. "He's had a rough time."

They searched every room below deck. When the rest of the Ninja found out what happened, they were quick to join the search, too. Soon they'd scoured the Destiney's Bounty top to bottom with no results.

"No sign of him," Kai told the others. "It's like he just... vanished."

Everyone's anxiety levels spiked, causing voices to escalate as they hurried to form a plan. Zane wandered onto the deck. The Bounty had docked near Jamanakai Village to conserve fuel. He gazed at the small bamboo fishing boats resting near them on the smooth lake, a perfect flip image of each cast on the mirror-like water. Any athletic person could leap from raft to raft in order to reach the grassy shore. Echo must have connected the dots and left the Bounty.

Zane climbed onto the railing and sprang over to the nearest boat. With a series of aerial flips and springs, he bounded from boat to boat until he landed softly on the shore. The grass had recently been flattened by a roll of tracks and a pair of feet other than his own. Scanning as he went, he set off in search of his brother.

* * *

Echo hugged his knees and attempted to ignore the exposed joints and wire frame in his legs. He stared at the beetle tumbling over the twigs in the grass, slipping in and out of the dappled shadows cast by the bushes. The grove he hid in was devoid of bird song, but he could hear them flapping and rustling in the leaves, their tiny claws scratching the branches. As long as he watched - as hard as he listened - he could not forget.

The memory of darkness taking over him encroached on his mind. Shutting his eyes only made it worse, as it left him in darkness, even if only for a few seconds. If he was not careful, he relived the anxiety and the helplessness he had felt. He never wanted to experience such emotion again. He had felt vulnerable on the worktable before, but he had never expected anything to go wrong. Now he could think of nothing else.

He tore at the grass, a few bright green blades catching in the metalwork of his hands. He still did not dare close his eyes. He could not shut out the memory. Was it possible for him to delete memories? Should he ask someone? Was it a cowardly suggestion? A fresh wave of apprehension swamped him.

Something heavy forced its way into the thicket of bushes, crushing grass and snapping sticks. It emitted a small _blurbing_ sound. Echo perked up as Gizmo rolled through the branches, water dripping off his square body.

"Gizmo!" He exclaimed. "How... how did you follow me? How did y-yo-ou get off the Bounty and cross the lake?"

_Blurbeebleep!_

"Well, I am glad to see you." He smiled wryly. The little robot sidled up next to him, and his presence calmed him. Back at the lighthouse, they had taken care of each other, both physically and mentally. It felt good to have his long time companion with him now. They sat in silence for a long while, each pointing to any interesting bit of nature that caught their eye.

The shadows had slanted on the ground when Echo's sensors traced the presence of a humanoid figure approaching. He crouched lower in the bushes, wincing when they scraped his metal body. Gizmo picked that moment to start chattering.

"Sssh!"

The person drew closer. Echo went completely still, his clock's sporadic ticking suddenly as loud as a hammer striking an anvil. Whoever was coming halted right by the thicket, his shadow darkening a patch of leaves.

"Echo?"

_Zane. _He felt a strange mix of hesitance and relief.

The bushes rustled and snapped as Zane pushed them open. Their eyes met through the branches, and Zane looked both relieved at having found him and heartbroken at the fear still lingering in his brother's eyes.

"We have been looking everywhere for you," he said, the branches cracking as he slid inside and sat beside Echo on the ground.

Echo ducked his head.

"Are you alright?"

He hesitated. "M-m-m-ma-aaaybe." The glitch claimed almost the entire word.

Zane's brows knit together. "We need to go back to get that fixed."

Echo's clock did an extra loud tick. "I w-w-wi-ill go back later."

The concern in Zane's eyes could not be ignored.

"I operate very efficiently now," he said, raising his arms to illustrate. One jerked higher than he wanted, and he quickly brought them back to his side. "I ran the whole way. Nothing came l-l-loose. I do not need another upgrade."

"I am more concerned that you ran," Zane said. "You do not need to hide your fear from me, Echo." He looked at him earnestly, and Echo turned away in shame. "Jay and Nya only want to make sure nothing is wrong."

_Something_ is_ wrong. Something bad happened. For the first time in my life, I do not feel safe. That is wrong_.

For a couple minutes, Zane did not intrude on his thoughts, allowing him to process things before continuing. "Do you want to talk to me about anything?"

"I _died_!" Echo choked, the words stabbing his brother with physical pain. He felt breathless somehow, his next choice words feeling restrained. "I forgot who I was! Who you were! I... died." He stared at each individual blade of grass, trying to get his mind to grasp onto anything - anything! - besides that dark nothingness, and never quite succeeding. He had experienced death, and it would not leave him alone.

Even in the short time he had known the Ninja, the definition of the word had become familiar to him, but until today he had not learned to fear it. Now he wished to hide, but he discovered one could never hide from the blackness.

He gasped as Zane pulled him into a hug, then he hid his face in the shoulder of his older brother's gi. He held on tight.

"I once died, too," Zane whispered.

The revelation startled Echo. Zane? Zane had died? But he seemed so invincible.

"How?" he croaked at last.

"While facing the Overlord. I will show you the mural some time."

Echo stared ahead at nothing, head still pressed against his brother's shoulder. "Was it dark?"

"Dark and very cold."

Echo shivered.

"But I woke up, and so did you." He hugged Echo tighter.

They both woke up... things did not stay dark.

"You are r-r-r-right."

"That glitch does not worry you?" Zane frowned, loosening his grip.

"N-n-n-no." He lied.

Zane took Echo's shoulders and held him at arms length, taking a minute to scan him thoroughly.

"I sense nothing horribly amiss, but I am unused to your upgrades and there is still unrepaired damage."

"I ca-a-an not go back!" Echo backed out of Zane's grasp. "When I lie on that table I feel... like a test subject. I have no control over what is happening. I sometimes do not _know_ what is happening! And I do not want to d... black out ever again." He pulled his knees up to his chest. Gizmo laid a hand on his leg.

Zane's heart ached at what he heard. How had he allowed Echo to endure this hurt all this time? How was he supposed to tell Jay and Nya?

He looked back the way he had come. "I need to let the others know you are safe," he said. "They are still looking for you."

"Are you going to tell th-h-e-e-em where I am?"

"Well..."

"Promise not to tell? I will come back-ck! I am fine here for now." He put a hand on Gizmo.

Zane looked uncertain.

"Please?"

After a minute, he agreed. "Alright," he breathed. "I will let them know you're safe, but I will keep your location secret."

"Thank you." Echo allowed a small smile.

"Stay safe." Zane stood up.

"I will. I will return soon."

They nodded to each other, and Zane headed back to the Bounty.

* * *

When he arrived back at the ship, the others had split up to hunt for Echo, and Nya was about to fly the Bounty out for an aerial search. Zane climbed up and sent a message via radio before she could take off. "Lloyd, you can bring everybody back. I found him."

"That's great, Zane! We'll head back right now."

Nya sighed with relief as radio contact was cut. "Thank goodness. Where did you find him?"

"He, uh..." the Titanium Ninja avoided eye contact, tapping the corner of the control panel. "He asked me not to tell."

"What!" Nya's face contorted with anger. "Zane! You know he's in no condition to be out there! There's still damage we have to repair!"

"I scanned him. There is nothing wrong that cannot be repaired later." He turned to face her.

"There will be if anything gets inside him and rips out a wire. He's not sealed up!"

"He will be fine for now."

"You can't know that for sure." She stomped closer.

"I know he is afraid," Zane frowned. He and Nya stood only a metre apart. "He is afraid of going anywhere near the shop, now! And he is most afraid of being tampered with and being shut down again."

"_I_ am afraid, Zane. I want to make sure I- he's okay. Where is he?"

"I will not tell."

"Ugh! You're not thinking straight! He needs help. He's a nindroid; repairs can't be avoided. What about you? What about all the times we had to fix you? Even you needed to be rebuilt."

"I rebuilt myself!" Zane snapped, taking Nya off guard. "And every time you have repaired me, I have been unconscious with no choice in the matter." There was a heavy silence. "I am sorry for getting angry. Do not think I am ungrateful.

"This isn't your fault, but Echo told me how he felt. He felt violated. And the fact that he... experienced death... will most likely make any future upgrades feel like torture."

Nya's expression crumpled with guilt. She burst, "But it_ is_ my fault! That's why I got so angry! I hurt him, Zane. I made a mistake - again! - and I hurt him. I just wanted... I just wanted to make sure I could fix things this time."

Zane placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Nya... everything is alright now. Don't beat yourself up when Jay and I are just as much at fault. Even after all this, Echo blames no one."

She sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"I'm so sorry, Zane."

They both hugged, and by holding on they let go of all the tension and anger and fear, trusting each other that all would be okay.

When they separated, Nya took a deep breath. "So what now?"

Zane shrugged. "I suppose we wait for Echo to come back."

"Then what?" Her was steady. "No matter how any of us feel, he still needs to be repaired."

"Or the minor glitches will only increase," Zane nodded.

"Upgrading a nindroid is harder than I thought. I'm not even sure if our equipment is advanced enough, anymore." Nya sighed. "Your father was a genius."

Zane smiled sadly. "I know."

They thought their own thoughts in silence, Nya examining the ship's controls, and Zane looking across the water in the direction he knew his brother was hiding.

"I have an idea!" Nya exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of this sooner? This will probably make things go so much more smoothly. We just need Echo to agree..."

* * *

Echo scaled the side of the Bounty, flipping over the rail and landing on the deck with a _clunk_. The last of the daylight glowed pale on the horizon. The sky overhead was a deepening shade of blue. Echo's metal skin was shaded dark copper under the shadow of twilight.

He set Gizmo down, then hung his head as he took a few tentative steps, eyes darting up and down the length of the ship. Nobody stood on the upper deck or in the doorway leading below.

What did they think of him running away? Were they embarrassed? Scared? Angry? What would they say?

Footsteps thumped from the stairwell. In the growing shadows he saw a silhouette climbing up to the deck. It paused, then Nya ran out and slammed into Echo, crushing him in a hug.

"I'm so glad you're back! I was so worried!"

"I am sorr-"

"I am so, so sorry!" she interrupted, not relinquishing her grip. "Zane told me how you felt. I never want to put you through that again. I am so sorry for everything."

"It is alr-r-r-ight."

She finally looked up at his face, guilt churning in her eyes.

_She looks in pain_. Echo had never seen that look in her eyes, and he hated it.

"What is wrong?"

Nya shook her head. "I made a mistake. It just feels awful that I hurt you." She looked up at him again and noted his concern. "But don't feel bad! _You_ didn't do anything wrong. Now come on, there's something we want to talk to you about."

Echo let her lead him downstairs to their quarters, ignoring the slight twinge he felt around his clock. Except for Cole, who lay dozing on his bunk, everyone was up. They all turned when he and Nya entered the room. Zane smiled, and Jay uttered the loudest, most relieved sigh Echo had ever heard, and ran over to him. Whereas Nya had squeezed him, Jay seemed to collapse against his shoulders, arms around his neck.

"it's nice to have you back, Echo," Lloyd greeted. "We were worried about you."

"Next time Jay does something dumb, just come find me, alright?" Cole piped up from his pillow.

"Hey!"

"Everything is f-f-f-ii-ne." A smile tugged at the corner of Echo's mouth, and he relaxed. Nobody was mad. Nobody was even stressed. They were just happy to see him.

Zane put a hand on his shoulder, and Jay moved to his other side. "Did Nya say we had something to ask you?"

Echo nodded.

Zane and Nya moved to leave the room, Echo and Jay in tow. Lloyd walked over to the door and reached for the light switch.

"Alright, guys, lights out."

"Way ahead of you." Kai flopped onto his bunk.

"Technically, I was in bed first, so I'm way ahead of you," Cole corrected.

Zane, Echo, Jay, and Nya walked down the hall and gathered in front of the kitchen door. The hallway was cast in gloom. Behind them, a single square of grey light lay across the kitchen table.

"Nya had an idea," Zane said, "on how to help upgrade you while preventing what happened last time."

"But only if you agree to it," Nya added.

Echo felt a worm of trepidation.

"We have a really great friend, Cyrus Borg," Jay said. "He's a super genius, and he's got all the tech imaginable that could help you."

"Unlike me and Jay, he's already built a nindroid," Nya put in. "Her name is P.I.X.A.L."

"And I rebuilt myself using his factory."

"How will hi-i-is methods be any different?" Echo asked. _How can I trust a complete stranger with my body?_

"You will have to ask him, but he will not force you into any situation you are uncomfortable with."

"Will you at least give 'im a shot?" Jay asked.

Echo mulled it over, aware of a second twinge next to his clock. Something felt loose. Had he bumped it out of place? Then there was his voice glitch. He battled between two fears: facing the worst during another attempted upgrade, or deteriorating and facing the worst anyway. If he refused repairs, how far would the damage go?

"I would... l-l-l-ike to meet him," he said at last. Meeting someone wasn't the same as being disassembled by them.

Nya sighed with relief.

"Thank you, Echo," Zane said.

"You'll really like him," Jay assured. "And hey! You're one step closer to meeting everyone."

"I would like that." Since he hadn't been with the Ninja long, he had mainly remained on the Bounty or at the Monastery. Perhaps seeing a new place and making a new friend would be a pleasant distraction.

"I'll call him in the morning," Nya said. "Hopefully he can see us soon." In response to Echo's silence, she said, "Hey, everything is going to be fine. We won't let anything bad happen."

Because he was now unable to dismiss the 'wrong' feeling around his clock, Echo sincerely hoped so.

_To be continued..._

* * *

**This chapter was so much fun to put on paper! (But dang, it's long.) I find it much easier to write angst and action than humor. **

**So I watched Echo's parts in Skybound again, and I think it will really help improve my stories. It's given me a clearer idea of what I want my version of Echo to be, and hopefully that's noticeable in upcoming chapters. I want Echo to be niave and childlike since he doesn't know much about the outside world yet, but not unintelligent or timid. He's brave, has a sense of humor, and is bound to his purpose: to protect. ****Looking back, I would definitely write all the previous chapters differently, but for the most part I'll leave them as they are so I can judge how I've improved. (Even if it makes me cringe)**

**A BIG thanks to anyone who's reading this. I'm honored to have captured your attention so long! Have a great day, and God bless!**


	6. Borg Industries

**Dedicated to Bookkeeper2004 for telling me to "Get that boy to Cyrus" in a PM :) **

**Also a huge thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: EchoJulien, Syren Nolbuluuki, Isabella camovic, Bookkeeper2004, nindroidzane, JBomb217, LucyBrick123, Dr. Fluffmuffin, Piggon. You guys are awesome!**

**Isabella camovic: You almost teared up?! YAS! *evil laugh* I'm so glad you liked it! I'd love to know what you think of this one!**

**JBomb17: Thanks so much! :)**

**Sixth Chapter: Echo goes to meet Cyrus Borg to discuss further upgrades for him. While there, he meets PIXAL, and something happens to his heart.**

* * *

_Continuation of 'Upgrades' storyline..._

Skyscrapers really _did_ scrape the sky!

They pierced the blue, cloudless expanse overhead, the impossibly high tops demanding Echo's attention despite the blare of vehicles surrounding him. Ninjago City towered over everything, grand and chaotic, lights on and flashing even in the daytime. It hosted apartments with so many windows they appeared made of glass entirely, neon signs, a thousand messages broadcast from electric billboards, cars, lights, pavement, more lights, and more pavement.

"Are you okay?" Jay asked at Echo's shoulder.

"Yes." He just needed his let his sensors load all the information pouring in: Swarms of people marching up and down the streets, in between buildings, and darting through traffic. Cars rumbled by constantly, emitting exhaust, and occasionally honking their horns. The air clamoured with never-ending noise.

"This way," Nya touched his elbow and gestured down the street. Echo followed her, trying to take comfort in Zane's, Jay's, and her presence, focusing on them instead of the cacophony all around, where nothing_ could_ be focused on.

They had steered the Bounty in over some lower buildings to avoid scraping anything, then - all four of them in casual clothing to hide from the public eye - Jay, Zane, Nya, and Echo had leaped onto a flat rooftop. Echo's clock shuddered on impact, something loosening even further. They took the fire escape down to the street, where even with every distraction throwing itself at Echo's senses, his ticking pulse pounded against his thoughts.

_I really do need to be fixed._

Soon they arrived in front of the tallest building yet: a grand, black steel skyscraper with a round, blue symbol at the top under a sharp spire. As they climbed the steps to the wide front door, Echo noted that, unlike the other buildings, which tended to be built with straight sides, Borg Tower widened and thinned several times, reminding him of the lines on a computer chip.

Upon entering the building, the street noise disappeared, replaced with the quiet buzz of human conversations. The lobby was large and well lit, and their footsteps tapped on the shiny floor.

"Well, this is it," Jay said, looking around.

Echo felt strangely numb as he examined his surroundings. He was thankful to have left the crowds and chaos, but he knew that the man - Cyrus Borg - who worked in this building had the ability to take him apart.

Nya continued on to the far side of the room, where a dainty woman wearing a suit and her hair in a bun sat at a smooth, silver desk. What was it made of? Not metal, steel, or stone. Echo tilted his head from where he stood slightly behind Zane.

"Is Borg waiting for us upstairs?" Nya asked the woman.

She looked up from her computer and smiled in recognition. "Yes of course. He's always in his lab, and willing to see the Ninja. Go right on up."

"Thank you," Zane nodded, and the group moved on.

Once they reached the wall, Zane pressed one of the multiple buttons there. Two smooth doors slid apart, startling Echo, who let the others walk in the confined space before him.

"Is it a secret room?" he asked.

"An elevator," Zane explained.

Echo stepped in beside them, and the doors closed. The floor jolted underneath him, then began to rise. Outside the glass walls, he could see the ground getting farther and farther away.

"An elevator..." he murmured to himself.

It did not stop rising until it had reached the top floor of the building, and now the ground outside was very far down indeed. With a _ding_, the doors slid open, and the group stepped out into the hall.

Almost complete silence reigned this high up. As they walked the halls, Echo's sensors detected few people in the rooms on this floor.

A door opened ahead of them, and a young man in a white lab coat walked out. When he spotted them, he started, and held open the door for them. "Go right on in, Ninja," he said, eyeing Echo as they passed.

The room, spacious and sporting a floor to ceiling window looking out over Ninjago City, was a tech geek's dream, and the most impressive lab Echo had ever seen. It was nothing like his father's lab in the lighthouse, cluttered with hand tools and spare parts. This one's wall space was dedicated to computers, monitors, and all manner of electronics. The epitome of modernisation.

"Well! My, my, look at you!"

Echo turned as a wheeled - wheeled! - man with black hair combed to the side, glasses, and a permanent, quirky smile dimpling one side of his mouth rolled over from the right side of the room. His hands gripped the large wheels of the chair, halting it in front of them. His delighted eyes flickered over Echo, looking him up top to bottom.

"A different colour and you could be Zane's twin, now couldn't you?" he chuckled. "It truly is a pleasure."

The smiles on his family's faces helped him put away his shyness. "Why does your chair have wheels on it?" Echo asked, eyes shifting from the wheelchair to the man sitting in it. Such a curious invention! He'd never seen anyone else with on before.

"Why, to help me get around, of course. These wheels work better than my legs do."

"Your legs don't work?" For the first time, Echo looked him in the eye, feeling sympathy. He wasn't aware that humans' body parts could lose function. "Are you an nindroid, too?" In photos, he'd seen Zane's appearance like a normal human's, perhaps this man was the same.

"No," the man's voice tilted, but his deeply dimpled smile never wavered. "Some people are just born unlucky, with legs or other appendages rendered useless. Though I'm not sorry in my case. It all worked out for good, giving me that extra motivation to invent, and eventually build up Borg Industries."

Cyrus Borg! Echo's features stretched in surprise. He had expected... well, not someone in a wheeled chair.

Borg turned to the others. "Jay! Nya! Zane! So good to see you, as always." And addressing Nya, he asked, "What exactly did you wish to see me about?"

"About Echo, sir," Nya said. "As you can see he's... not exactly up to date. We've come across more than a few hiccups trying to repair him."

"Hmm..." Borg rolled his chair closer to inspect the steampunk droid. Echo took half a step back.

"He's, uh, quite nervous about this," Zane defended, his and the others' expressions falling.

"I assure you there is no need," Borg smiled, but he noted Echo watching him carefully, and backed away. "I'd love you to feel as at home here as I do, Echo. I have a feeling we'd get along if we continued our acquaintance. Would like to see the rest of the building?"

Echo shrugged, shy again.

Borg's smile attained a certain fondness as he looked at the young nindroid. "Made of so little material, yet so much individual personality. Whatever they want me to fix, I certainly won't have to tamper with the mind - Dr. Julien's design cannot be improved upon."

That caught Echo's attention. "You knew my father?"

"Not personally, no, but he greatly inspired me."

Cyrus Borg became steadily more fascinating to Echo. Maybe they_ could _be friends.

Still, seeing that Echo was not ready to let him close, Borg proceeded to ask the other three some questions:

"I assume that he requires a technical upgrade, and judging from his mismatched appearance, you have already tried doing so?"

"Yes, but..." Nya bit her lip.

"It didn't go so well." Jay finished, looking nervous.

"Ah. What seems to be the trouble?"

They continued to discuss, in minor detail, their mistake, and, in more detail, what they had removed and added. They talked about the difficulty in removing his power source to replace it, and about the glitches that had arisen.

Echo, unwilling to listen, began to roam about the room. He supposed it did feel homey - at least to someone like him. The designs on the floor reminiscent of computer chips, and the machines in the corners of the room seemingly built to support a robot such as him, he could hardly feel out of place.

A tone sounded from a speaker on one of the desks, a small light blinking on beside it.

"Excuse me," Borg said, wheeling over to answer the intercom. "Yes?"

"Sir, PIXAL is here to see you."

"Delightful! Send her in!"

"PIXAL?" Zane said, lighting up like a bulb.

"Indeed. She heard you were coming, and our dear Samurai X promised to drop in." Borg smiled knowingly at Zane's reaction.

Echo listened in again after hearing the familiar name. He'd heard the name PIXAL spoken multiple times, but had yet to meet her. He recalled someone mentioning that Borg was her creator - her father. What would she be like?

A few minutes later, the doors opened and a (unmistakably) feminine nindroid entered the room. Beaming, Zane hurried over to her.

"PIXAL!" he greeted, going in for a hug. She smiled, and they both embraced.

"So good to see you, PIXAL!" Borg grinned.

Echo didn't hear if anyone said anything else. PIXAL walked further into the room, stride confident. Her hair, shaded pure silver, framed her face where it fell loose from her ponytail. Lines of violet traced her white cheeks, and several dots were drawn beneath her vibrant green eyes. A smile graced her full lips. Echo's eyes went round.

"You must be Echo Zane," she greeted.

"How did...?"

"I regularly download information from both Borg Industries and the Destiney's Bounty to aid my missions. I learned you would be coming here after communicating with my father this morning." Her voice, though robotic, was deep and soothing. A pleasant sensation wriggled in Echo's stomach. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"And... I you," Echo breathed.

Echo's sensors picked up on PIXAL scanning him. Her face remained pleasant and friendly.

"You have quite an outdated design, but if you are anything like Zane was, that should not stand for anything. I greatly look forward to working alongside you in the future."

"Oh, tha-a-ank you." He ducked his gaze with a timid smile.

"You are here to be upgraded?"

"Oh, um, per-er-haps?"

"Nothing we plan to rush into," Borg answered.

PIXAL detected Echo's unease. "You have no cause for anxiety. My father is Ninjago's leading expert on droids. He has always treated me with the utmost precision and care. I'm lucky it is he who built me."

"He d-i-i-id a very good job."

His comment drew quiet giggles from the others. PIXAL emitted a short laugh, and Borg chuckled under his breath.

"Do you and the ninja get together often?" Echo asked.

"Lately, not as often as I would like."

"You should co-o-ome visit the Monastery some time soon! It is such a beautiful place. You would lo-ove it the-e-ere."

She smiled. Her smile was so warm! "Indeed, the Monastery is magnificent. I should drop in some day this week."

"I would like that." Now he smiled. He wanted to get to know her! Here was another droid - meaning he and Zane weren't the only ones. In that moment, he felt less different. He felt excited. He looked at PIXAL and he looked at Zane.

"How ma-a-any nindroids are there?"

"Oh, many!" Borg spoke up. "And they were all built here."

"Though not all of them are like you, Zane, and PIXAL," Nya added.

Experiencing a whirl of emotion, Echo looked away and looked all around the room. "It is all so fa-a-ascinating," he murmured. As well as being friendly, Borg and PIXAL were so optimistic, so confident, so calm. They spoke of creating other robots as if it were an everyday thing. Did he dare trust them with his repairs? Had Borg ever made a mistake before? He couldn't picture the inventor damaging him - purposely or accidentally - but then, he hadn't pictured Nya and Jay capable of it, either.

"So, Echo," Borg sat relaxed in his wheel-chair, "now that you have moved in with the renowned Ninja, what will you be doing?"

"Uh..." Echo turned to his siblings.

"Settling in," Zane said.

"He's settled in, Zane," Jay smiled, rolling his eyes a bit. "Once he's fixed up, he can come with us on patrols and missions, like he did before!"

"I have some upgrade ideas for that," Borg smiled.

"Are you programmed to fight?" PIXAL queried, tilting her head.

Echo cheered up at her question, and jumped into a fight stance, feet braced and fists clenched and ready to punch. He pounded the air, glancing at PIXAL to see what she thought.

"His limbs didn't fall off this time," Nya murmured to Jay, who grinned at the memory of the first time they'd met him.

PIXAL leaped into a fight stance in front of Echo. Startled, he flung up his fists to protect his face, eyes wide. To his surprise, she mirrored him. He lowered his hands, shoulders unclenching, confusion written on his features. She nodded to reassure him, copying his posture to a T.

Hesitant, he pulled back one fist and extended his palm. She moved with him, as if linked. He swept his foot out over the floor and repositioned it, and again, she did likewise.

_Huh..._ A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. She smirked.

Echo karate chopped the air, vertically and horizontally. He bent his knees, crouching, then spun and kicked his foot high in the air, level with his head. PIXAL remained in synch with him. Their eyes met, and Echo beamed at her.

Their "dance" quickened. They spun, kicked upward again, crouched, sprang up, punched with a flurry of fists, dropped and did the splits, rolled, and faced each other with a knife hand. The floor rang with their metal footsteps.

Without warning, PIXAL swung wide at his head, breaking their routine. Though she most likely had no intent to hit him, Echo ducked and darted backwards. He glanced over his shoulder. Behind him, between much machinery, was one bare strip of wall. He turned around, saw PIXAL approaching, and, with a laugh, he dashed over to the wall. Without pausing, he leaped up onto it, his feet sticking like a gecko's. When he looked down, PIXAL had halted in surprise.

"Incredible!" Borg gasped.

Echo's chest swelled at the praise.

Something shifted by his clock. He felt it grind against the nearby metal. With a sharp gasp, Echo dropped to the floor, barely landing on his feet, and bent halfway over. He clutched his heart, breaking down into a state of quaking.

"Echo!" Zane exclaimed, the others matching his expression of concern as they all rushed forward. "What's wrong?"

"I-i-i-t hu-u-r-rts!" His trembling increased, terrified glitches wracking his voice. What was this?! Black spots burst across his vision. He'd never experienced such pain - not even when he'd shut down. What was happening!?

"Easy now," Borg said, calm but fully serious. He wheeled over, everyone moving aside to let him through, his hand raised to steady the malfunctioning nindroid.

Knees shaking, spasms of pain knocking against his heart, and too frightened to move, Echo allowed Borg to gently unzip his sweater and open his chest compartment.

"The last of several vital parts is disconnecting from his main power source," PIXAL informed from where she stood near his shoulder, eyes locked on the exposed chest cavity. "If not repaired quickly, there could be disastrous consequences. Echo, you must remain completely still."

Borg's fingers brushed the glass face of the clock. The hands inside jerked forward, then backward, causing Echo to gasp in pain. Borg scowled.

The great inventor set to work, first tightening the parts that had come loose, which included wires and the casing underneath the clock's frame. Zane paced around them, never taking his eyes off his brother. Jay went from biting his lip to biting his nails, and Nya grabbed his hands in hers, not only to stop him from damaging his cuticles, but to give herself something to hold onto.

After the casing had been tightened, securing the contents inside, Echo let out a deep sigh as the pain subsided. This allowed Zane to relax somewhat.

Borg gently lifted Echo's hand away when he tried to rub where it was sore.

"PIXAL, kindly retrieve an Energy Capsule from its safe."

PIXAL went to the other side of the room where she pressed a button on a panel. The hydraulics underneath extended with a smooth hiss, and a compartment containing several, pill shaped capsules - supposedly Energy Capsules - rose out of the desk. She unplugged one, a dark grey cylinder that could rest in the palm of her hand, and glowed with blue light at each end, and brought it over.

"Here you are, sir." She handed it to him.

Without a word, Borg adeptly clipped it to Echo's clock, then fixed it in place. After pondering it a moment, he wheeled back a pace.

"How do you feel?" Borg asked.

"I feel... fine." Echo sounded surprised. Just like that, all the pain had gone, as had the shaking and black spots. He looked up into Borg's grey-blue eyes. "Thank you."

"It was hardly any trouble on my part. I'm just glad you were here when it happened. Your clock - your power source - has been altered, and those alterations seem to have been interrupted. Left incomplete, your heart went into overdrive to power you, and it did not have the parts to sustain itself. There are many more fancy words I could use to explain the simple event that just occurred, but essentially, as PIXAL pointed out, the remaining vital pieces came loose. The Energy Capsule I have installed will act as backup power, and ease the strain on you for awhile."

"Th-thank you," Echo stammered, words distorted by his scare rather than his glitch.

His siblings inched closer, and when Borg and PIXAL made room, they surrounded their little brother. Zane hugged him, and Echo hugged him back. Nya and Jay weren't far behind.

"Are you alright?" Zane asked, eyes heavy with concern.

Echo gulped and nodded.

"Are we going home?" he asked, voice nearly a whisper.

Zane hesitated.

"Perhaps it is in your best interest to stay," PIXAL said. She and Borg wore no smiles now, concern etched on their faces.

"I will not force you, if it your wish to leave," Borg told him, catching his gaze, "but I do hope you'll come back."

"I want to come back," Echo insisted. "Tomorrow!"

Nya sighed with relief. Echo trusted Borg. He would be alright.

Shoulders together, and Echo's hand touching Zane's arm, the ninja moved to leave. Borg and PIXAL followed them to the door.

"I will see you tomorrow, then," Borg said. "It will be the first thing I look forward to."

A small smile graced Echo's lips.

The doors opened in front of them, and they walked through. PIXAL joined them in the hall, accompanying them to the elevator.

"Are you co-o-oming with us?" Echo asked her.

She shook her head. "Only to the street. I'm leaving on a mission, and I wanted to say goodbye."

"What's the mission?" Nya asked.

PIXAL smiled. "That information is currently classified."

As they ascended the steps outside the building, sunlight glowing on the pavement, a rumbling shook the air. Echo looked up, expecting the Bounty, but instead a giant mech swooped in, smoke pouring from its thrusters. He halted on the sidewalk, his jaw nearly falling off as the metal battle armor landed nearby, shaking the ground under their feet.

PIXAL strode toward it, and the front opened for easy access. Before she climbed in, though, she turned to her friends to bid them farewell.

"Goodbye!" she waved.

"Bye, PIXAL!" Zane and the others waved back. Echo looked from them to her.

"Will you come back?"

PIXAL smiled. "I'll be here tomorrow. It was delightful to meet you."

Echo ran forward and hugged her. She stiffened, eyes wide, then smiled and returned the affection, stepping back after a short moment.

"See you tomorrow." With that, she leaped up into the mech. The hatch closed, seeming to swallow her. She put on her helmet, which hid her entire face. You wouldn't ever recognise her. Facing the sky, she powered up the thrusters, and rocketed into the air, disappearing behind a building.

"She is very nice," Echo remarked.

"Just don't steal her from Zane, ok buddy?" Jay rested an arm on Echo's shoulder and steered him down the street.

Echo looked at him, cocking his head. "Steal?"

"You know... they're a thing. They're together."

"We cannot be friends?" Echo's brows drew together.

"No! Of course you can! I just meant romantically!"

"Just be quiet, Jay," Nya rolled her eyes. Zane had already face-palmed in embarrassment.

"What is romantically?"

"Okay... Echo, just... just forget everything I just said."

"Okay."

Nya glanced at Zane. Behind his hand, it looked like he was trying hard not to laugh.

_'Upgrades' storyline finale next chapter..._

* * *

**I'M DOOOOOONE!**

**I'm SO sorry you guys had to wait so long for this chapter! SO, SO, SO sorry! I wanted to rewatch Season 3: Rebooted to make sure I could write Borg and PIXAL accurately, but on top of that I had horrible writer's block. :( ****After the long, angsty chapter I posted last time (I didn't mean to give Echo PTSD, I really didn't! D:), I wanted to write a less traumatic one, but somehow ended up putting Echo through pain anyway, and trying to balance that out with fluff gave me a rough time.**

**Once I actually got my rear in gear, I was surprised how much fun Borg was to write! He's definitely my favourite part of this chapter. He's so charming. :) (When I watched Rebooted the first time, I liked his character immediately) I also loved writing Echo and PIXAL's "dance". I don't ship them, but it was exhilarating to write. I hope you liked it! If you didn't, I'd love feedback.**

**Thanks sooooooo much to everyone reading this! Again, I'm sorry this chapter took so long. God bless you all, and have an amazing day!**


	7. Final Upgrade

**Thanks to _everyone_ who reviewed last time! The reviews came so fast! I was a bit shocked. I wondered if people would lose interest because I hadn't posted in so long. Syren Nolbuluuki, Isabella camovic, LucariosFish, FireCloud3, EchoJulien, Guest, Bookkeeper2004, LucyBrick123, Dr. Fluffmuffin, Piggon, and Guest, thank you ALL so much for your support!**

**Isabella camovic: I'm so glad you liked Echo and PIXAL's interaction! I loved writing it. :) Ah! Echo will have plenty of talks about feelings in _many_ coming chapters. I'm really excited for it! (Since I'm talking, I noticed you sent some of the same requests to the author of 'Empty Echoes', Toni42. It's no problem, I'd just like to know if you're asking multiple people to write something, since I don't want to write the same thing as somebody else. I'd also like it if, for each request you made, you shared your thoughts on chapters first.) Thanks so much for your review! Here's part 3! :D**

**FireCloud3: Your review means so much to me! I'm so glad you liked Echo's confusion, because I loved it! XD Thanks so much! I hope to post really soon!**

**JBomb12: I'm so glad you liked it! :D Thanks for reviewing! **

**Guest: Don't worry, I never uproot canon ships! ZaneXPIXAL is safe with me! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Guest: OMG! Thank you SO much! I'm so excited that you love this! Your praise is just... wow! Thank you so much!**

**Seventh chapter: What was supposed to be a routine visit to Borg Industries is interrupted by an attack in Ninjago City. Jay, Lloyd, Zane, and Echo are caught in the crossfire, and as they struggle to evacuate civilians, they are separated in the chaos. "Zane, I can't find him! He's not answering me!"**

* * *

_Continuation of 'Upgrades'..._

Borg checked his watch, frowning at the time, and wheeled his chair over to the floor to ceiling window overlooking Ninjago City. Sunlight glinted off the glass of the many skyscrapers. Cars, silenced by distance, drove up and down the streets, smaller even than toys. Somewhere behind the maze of buildings, smoke dissipated into the blue sky.

"What is keeping them, I wonder?" Borg asked aloud. He backed up, then steered over to his desk, where several monitors waited to offer any information he asked of them - whether that be camera footage from the City or his tower, connection to internet, or Echo's vitals and heart rate during operations.

On the other side of the room was the equipment he had prepared for Echo's final upgrade. He would install a com-link with the Ninja, a tracking device, and - the most impressive installation - the programming needed for artificial sleep, which doubled as a system cool down. For the first time ever, Echo would be able to sleep as a human could.

The only problem preventing this was that Echo and the others still hadn't shown up. Though running late definitely wasn't unheard of when it came to the Ninja, their tardiness still proved inconvenient.

With the tap of a few buttons, Cyrus Borg turned on the monitor to check up on the news in Ninjago while he waited. Perhaps the Ninja had run into some trouble on the way over. The screen flicked on, and the picture swarmed with sirens, cops, helicopters, and a massive throng of people.

"Goodness gracious!" he exclaimed.

* * *

_Earlier..._

"Good morning, Ninjago!"

The others laughed as Echo shouted his greeting to the world and leaped to the next rooftop. Jay, Zane, and Lloyd jumped after him, clearing the gap between the buildings with ease. They all absorbed the shock of the landing, and took off running across the roof.

"You can really keep up!" Lloyd panted with a grin. Indeed, Echo was leading the pack, this particular part of town completely mapped out in his mind.

Echo had grown so much since his first visit to Ninjago City - both from visiting Borg and from watching the public - and neither the inventor nor the busy metropolis caused him anxiety anymore. In fact, the thought of a trip to Borg Industries now excited him.

Today would be Echo's final visit with Borg. He had undergone many repairs, and his voice no longer glitched. His outer plating was smooth, shiny, and as seamless as Zane's. His wall crawling abilities were enhanced, weapons and tools were hidden in his arms, he could now feel the pain of a hit, and the softness of a petal, and his clockwork heart had been replaced with a powerful core, pulsing with blue energy, and crafted in the shape of a clock to honor his past power source. It pleased him greatly. He felt stronger and healthier than ever, with a zest to learn and live life to the fullest.

To everyone's surprise, one thing Borg hadn't needed to upgrade was Echo's scanner. Dr. Julien had built in an incredibly strong, far-reaching range into it, perhaps to keep tabs on the Leviathan guarding the Lighthouse, but they would never know for sure.

Borg Tower poked up above the other buildings, the large C a beacon for Echo, though he already had the way memorized by heart. His smile widened as each step brought him closer. He and the others came to the edge of the roof and threw themselves into empty air. There was the familiar sensation of weightlessness, accompanied by the feeling your insides were being left behind, as they plummeted. Then seconds later, they landed on a lower rooftop with a thud, all of them rolling to absorb the impact.

Lloyd took the lead and vaulted off the roof, breaking his fall by grabbing a ledge, before letting himself fall to the sidewalk, his brothers right behind him. They took off down the street.

"Almost there!" Lloyd called back. They'd taken the long way so he could put in patrol time.

"Woo! I'm feelin' great!" Jay cheered. With no villains to fight, they'd all been getting enough rest for once, and racing across buildings to reach the center of the city felt like a breeze to their toned bodies.

"I will race you there!" Zane laughed. He put on a burst of speed, then summoned his elemental dragon.

Echo beamed, eyes sparkling, as he watched the brilliant blue and white creature soar upward.

"Hey!" Jay protested. His dark blue dragon materialised under him and he shot after Zane. "That's cheating!"

"You're doing it!" came the distant reply.

Lloyd laughed, watching them disappear as he ran. He looked at Echo. "Come on, let's catch up." He extended his hand to him. Echo's eyes shone, and reached to take it.

"Lloyd!"

Lloyd slowed to a halt, looking up as Jay, and then Zane, pulled up their dragons above them. Their wings pounded the air.

"What is it?" Lloyd called up.

"You should see this," Zane said. "There appears to be a disturbance up ahead."

"Uh, disturbance is putting it lightly, Zane," Jay spat.

Lloyd and Echo shared a look, joined hands, and Lloyd summoned his green Energy Dragon. They took off after Jay and Zane, the buildings passing in a blur. Echo clung to Lloyd's waist, curious and concerned about what lay ahead.

As the street rushed underneath them, the traffic became increasingly backed up, until it stopped entirely. Up ahead, flashing blue and red police lights lined an entire block. In between the cop's barricade was a massive swarm of shouting people.

"What is that?" Echo asked.

"A riot," Lloyd stated.

The ninja swooped over the traffic on their dragons, Lloyd warning them to watch for stray bullets. Echo looked at Lloyd, but their leader's focus was ahead. What was a bullet? What did it do?

The storm of noise pummeled them before they'd even landed. As they dismissed their dragons and their feet touched the ground behind a line of cop cars, the mob's screams, demands, curses, and the incessant crash and bang of thrown objects and fists drowned out all other noise. Echo's ears rang. For the first time in weeks, he felt his sensors overload. He covered his ears and tried to lower the volume. Screaming! Noise, noise, noise! Nothing came into focus until Zane rushed to his side and wrapped an arm around him.

"What happened?" Lloyd shouted to the nearest officer.

The officer turned away from the chaos on the other side of his car and noticed the ninja for the first time. "Protest gone wrong!" His voice barely made it over the commotion. "Political unrest! They're demanding to speak to the mayor!" He spotted Echo. "Who's he?"

Lloyd turned around and remembered Echo, pressed tightly into his older brother's side. "Zane! You should get Echo out of here!"

A gunshot went off.

All of them stiffened. Echo crouched, eyes wide. "What...?"

The Green Ninja turned back to the nindroids. "Don't risk taking to the air! Take a back way out, then radio the others!"

Zane nodded. He took off, watching over his shoulder to make sure Echo followed. The two of them ran through the throng of abandoned cars and ducked into an alley, where they scaled the side of the building to the rooftop.

* * *

Lloyd and Jay watched them run off before turning back to the cop, crouching next to him so they could talk over the riot.

"Do you want us to help?" Lloyd asked.

"There's someone trying to communicate with the instigator right now. I bet he's the guy with the gun. He came outta nowhere and turned things violent."

"Do you need us to get people out? What if I spoke with them?"

"We can handle this. There are folks inside that building who need you." He pointed to the municipal hall a ways down the road. "Everyone's angry with the government office. Make sure they're safe!"

"On it!" Jay saluted. He and Lloyd made brief eye contact before sprinting away. The officer swore he turned away for only half a second, but when he looked back, they'd vanished.

"How'd they do that?"

* * *

Zane and Echo knelt on the slanted tile roof of the public library. Zane had just finished talking to Cole, and the Earth Ninja was on his way and trying to get a hold of Kai and Nya.

Below, the mob had split into two separate groups. One hounded the police with slogans of protest, but didn't sling any blows, while the other marched in a tight circle, making their way toward City Hall, and throwing whatever they could at the blockade - whether it be words or stones. A man waving a handmade gun over his head lead them.

Echo watched in silence. He extended his sensors, picking out each individual in the crowd and sorting them. Being high on the roof, above the noise, allowed him to get his thoughts together, and he no longer felt overwhelmed. Still, he couldn't quite figure out what was happening. It was the first time he'd witnessed intentional violence directed by a person at another person. The mural at the Monastery seemed more real, all of a sudden.

He picked up a familiar signal. Lloyd and Jay's signature readings appeared on his screen, their physical bodies hidden from view. Their green and blue icons ducked behind the government hall across the street, and with an impressive series of flips and leaps, they swung up to the third story and slipped through an unlocked window.

"I read you, Lloyd," Zane said suddenly, fingers at the device in his ear. Echo switched his attention to him.

Zane listened to his leader through the com-link, then replied: "The mob split, and are heading toward the building. They're armed."

Lloyd answered, but Echo had no way of hearing what he said.

"I will keep an eye out in the mean time."

The Green Ninja seemed to end the conversation, because Zane took his hand away from his ear. He caught Echo's gaze and held it for a moment, before turning his attention back to the street.

Echo did likewise, steeling himself for the gravity of the situation.

After a minute, Echo felt Zane's gaze back on him, and he turned to meet his eyes.

"Are you alright?" his older brother asked.

Echo nodded.

"Perhaps you should go on ahead to Borg's while we finish this."

"I am fine," Echo assured. For some reason, he wanted to stay. Especially with Jay and Lloyd infiltrating a possibly dangerous situation. Zane may have audio contact, but Echo had visual tabs on the two. "I want to help."

Down below, one voice rose above the others. The gunman stepped up to the cops guarding the Hall's front doors, shouting at them with weapon raised. From behind their shields, the police shouted back their demands. To everyone's surprise, the man threw his gun at them. It clattered against the hall steps behind the cops. The shouting volume decreased, so Zane and Echo both heard the cops order, "Hands up!"

The man reached into his sweater and pulled out a parcel, raising it over his head. Yelling, the crowd - including the gunman's followers - scattered. Zane gasped.

He catapulted the parcel over the cops' heads. It soared toward the building and through a front window with a crash.

"Lloyd! Jay!" Zane shouted through the com-link.

The blue and green icons, each on a separate side of the building, stiffened.

The bomb exploded.

Everyone screamed. The officer's nearest to the building flung themselves to the ground. Flames billowed from the front of the building, throwing concrete and debris. Everyone kept screaming, and all the protestor's took off running. Some cops gathered their wits fast enough to jump the terrorist and pin him to the ground. Dark fire and smoke plumed behind them. Ashes rained down on the street.

Echo's eyes went so wide he thought they would pop out of their sockets. He frantically scanned City Hall. Green Icon, accompanied by a small crowd of orange icons, milled on the third floor and on the opposite side of the building from the blaze, while Blue Icon remained terrifyingly close to the fire, the heat almost snuffing him out.

"Lloyd! The building is ablaze! You must get everyone out!"

* * *

"You must get everyone out!"

Lloyd heard Zane as a distant voice, muffled by the yelps of the people around him. A tremor had just shaken the entire Hall. Lloyd stood braced as if for impact, eyes raking the walls, floor, and ceiling.

"Lloyd! Do you read me? The building is _on fire_!"

"What?!" The Green Ninja barely stopped himself from spreading the panic inciting news to the others in the room. The city council watched him with wide eyes. Before Zane could repeat himself, Lloyd said, "Yes, I read you. Where is it?"

After a pause, Zane replied, "Echo says you are far from the blaze, but Jay is in the immediate vicinity."

"I sent him to look for anyone else who might be in the building." A knot formed in his gut.

"Echo says you have everyone accounted for."

"He can scan that far?" Wow. "How fast is it spreading?"

"How fast is _what_ spreading?" A man in the group squeaked.

"So far it appears contained, and the perpetrator has been apprehended. The fire department is on its way. Where is Jay? He should be able to hear us!"

Lloyd started, remembering that all three of them shared the link. "Jay?" he called.

No answer.

"Jay, I need help evacuating the building! Jay? Jay!"

* * *

"Zane I can't find him! He's not answering me!"

Zane felt a part of him stop working.

"What did he say?" Echo asked. Jay's icon still hadn't moved, and the fire grew increasingly heated as it embedded itself in the structure. Lloyd's had moved as the Green Ninja searched for his brother, but he still had two dozen people to look after, and had returned to them within minutes, reporting that a section of the building had collapsed, and he couldn't get by.

"He has not found Jay." Zane slid down the roof tiles. "I am going in after him. You stay to wait for Cole and the others!"

"I am coming with you!" Echo skid after him. Zane whirled around, almost tipping off the edge of the roof. "I know where he is!"

"But..." Zane didn't finish, but Echo read in his eyes: 'But I want you to stay safe.' Echo frowned in determination, straightening his shoulders, all fear banished.

"I am built to protect those who cannot protect themselves!"

Zane stared. Precious seconds ticked by. Zane took a deep breath, and nodded. "Let's go."

They both leaped to the ground, landing with heavy thuds, and, rolling to their feet, sprinted through the thinning mob to the Hall entrance.

Those protestors faintest of heart had fled long ago. The rest were being rounded up by the police. Fire truck sirens blared in the distance. The fire crackled, and the air stank of smoke and burning paint. When Zane reached the front doors, he blasted the flames with a thick sheet of ice, extinguishing the outside of the building. He kicked open the double doors, and he and Echo ran inside.

"Where is he?" Zane asked.

Echo was already at work, scanning back and forth. The inside of the building glowed bright red. Smoke billowed against the ceiling, and sunlight coming in the window cast strange light against it. A blue blur lay behind the wall separating the next room. Echo threw himself into the sweltering heat, gasping as it engulfed him, and charged toward his brother.

"Echo!"

Echo stopped in the middle of the room, panting. The fire had caught on the wallpaper, on books, and on furniture, spreading rampantly. The heat wavered over his metal skin. Through the suffocating smog, he spotted Jay lying face down behind a low table on the other side of the room.

Zane entered the room just as Echo dashed to Jay's side, and while he adjusted Jay's head so he could see his face, the Titanium Ninja worked to coat the walls in ice.

Jay's eyes fluttered open at his touch. "Echo?" he groaned, unable to lift his head. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to come back for you. You remembered me!" Echo bent over, slung Jay's arm over his shoulders, and hauled him to his feet.

One hand still firing ice, Zane reached up with the other to speak into the com-link. "Lloyd, we have Jay, but the fire is spreading faster than we thought." Even as the walls were iced over, the embers melted it.

Their leader answered, and Zane turned to Echo, red flames reflecting off his titanium face plating. "Get Jay out of here! I'm going to help Lloyd!"

Echo adjusted his grip on Jay, who's knees buckled the second his feet touched the ground. He dragged him from the room, and Jay grunted and tried to lift his head.

"Mmf... someone... help..." His words faded, the effort to speak exhausting him.

"I've got you," Echo reassured. While Zane rushed to find the stairs to the next floor, Echo carried Jay outside, far from the flames, and laid him down in the street. People still thronged about. A fire engine had its hose trained on the hall, and the police were trying to move their cars out of the way.

"Echo..." Jay slurred, barely able to keep his eyes open.

"What is it?" How he wished he knew first aid right now!

"Someone... in there."

Echo shook his head. "You and Lloyd found everybody."

Jay grimaced, tilting his head back and forth. "One more."

"You need help," Echo noted, looking around, wondering if one of the officer's could help. "Do not worry, my sensors picked up no one else near the fire."

The Blue Ninja whimpered in frustration. "Fire... must've... blocked..." He stopped to catch his breath.

Then Echo understood. Because Jay and Lloyd held so much elemental power, their signal was stronger. A normal human's body heat was nothing compared to the heat of an explosion. The fire must have hidden them!

He got to his feet, looking back at the hall. Outside, thanks to Zane and the firemen, the flames had been snuffed out, but inside still burned dark and red. Smoke poured out of the broken windows, climbing into the sky. Smoke killed. Fire killed. How much time did the person inside have?

Echo bit his lip. He glanced from Jay to the building. Regaining his resolve, he rushed to the nearest police officer and grabbed his arm.

"Can you help my brother?" He pointed to Jay lying on the pavement, black ash staining his gi.

The officer ran to Jay's side, and after watching him kneel down, Echo turned and raced back into the building.

The heat hit him like a fist. By now the smoke had blackened the walls and left the rooms dark. His heart rate spiked. How could he find this person if he couldn't sense them?

_Ok, calm down. Jay must have seen - or at least heard - them, so they cannot be far from where he was._

He pressed on through the smoke. It swirled around his body, closing in behind him. The fire growled.

"Hello?" he called. The smoke swallowed it. "Hello!" he shouted louder.

With a hurried walk, he ducked under a doorframe sparking red and black and into the next room. Without natural or electric light, the room was almost completely dark, but thankfully there wasn't as much smoke. Echo scanned the room with his eyes. "Hello?!"

Even when he activated the headlights in his eyes, he didn't spot anything besides chairs and a desk. He skirted around the desk, headlights combing the floor, where an unconscious person might be laying, and made his way to an open door in the corner of the room. He glanced back over his shoulder before going through, checking one last time that he hadn't missed anyone.

The next room he entered was darker than the last, if that was possible. Only a wafer of smoke flowed against the ceiling. Shelves holding stacks of paper and cardboard boxes lined the walls. Many had fallen to the floor, making it difficult to walk around. Something tickled his sensors.

"Can anyone hear me?!"

"Help!" came a faint cry.

Echo's gaze snapped up, glowing eyes piercing the shadows. He only saw shelving and boxes, but his sensors were tingling harder.

"Hello?"

"Help me!" A woman's voice. She was close, but her call was weak.

He swung his gaze to the other side of the room. His headlights landed on a crumpled pile of boxes, and underneath, his scanner picked up the delicate outline of a person.

_I found her!_ He leaped forward. As fast as he could, he hauled the boxes out of the way. He only had to move two before he could see her pinned against the wall. The light from his eyes hit her in the face, and she squinted. He dimmed the brightness.

"Are you alright?" He shoved another box aside.

She nodded, her throat constricting.

"What happened?"

"The explosion," she whispered. "It knocked the boxes down."

How had Jay known about her? Her voice was so quiet. Of course, her voice may have been stronger before, and then there hadn't been roaring flames to drown her out.

"Can you stand?"

She nodded again, grabbing the shelf to help herself to her feet. They both stepped over the boxes to the door. As soon as she entered the office room, she bent over coughing.

The fire leaped closer, snapping against the darkness, and shooting out tendrils of smoke. Heart pounding, Echo sprinted in the direction of the exit, the woman keeping pace alongside him. He felt her glance at him as they ran.

The ceiling groaned and cracked overhead. Black chunks dropped down, clanking off Echo's skull. His feet couldn't match the pace of his heart. He could see the light from the door and the windows. There was an avalanche of sound and charred debris, and then the entire ceiling crashed to the ground. Echo's head smacked the floor, and an intense weight smothered his body.

He coughed, expelling dark, hot ash from his mouth. Another cough echoed his. He managed to look up and see the woman to the side and slightly ahead of him. She yanked her leg out from under the burnt drywall.

Panting, he watched her get up, her dark hair hanging in front of her bent shoulders. She took a step. The fire brandished her with light. She continued to totter forward. Echo struggled to move, but found himself completely pinned.

"Help!" he called to her.

She paused, then dashed out of the building.

"Wait!" he cried, struck by terror and shock. "Come back for me! Come back!"

She didn't answer. He never saw her again.

* * *

The flames were all he could hear. They were all he could see - beside the trembling shadows. The air practically bounced with rippling heat. The flames crept along the floorboards, crackling and whipping about maniacally. He was surrounded from all directions, even from above and below.

Echo squirmed under the debris, grunting with exertion, feeling pieces crumble all around him. A nail scratched his trapped hand, and he hissed. When he tried to move it, charred debris collapsed around his face. His chest rose and fell, all the while feeling compressed, and he gasped for air, his breathing loud and shaky.

"Help!"

Only the roar of the fire answered, as if it were a living dragon stalking him.

"Nnnnngh!" he grunted, trying to heave the weight off his shoulders. More charcoal poured around his neck. He dry sobbed.

A small ball of flame burst to his left. Red sparks flew through the air, beautiful for one moment, before they splashed onto the floor. A few landed on Echo's face and he screamed.

In the corner of his screen behind his eyes appeared a red, flashing warning sign.

"What does that mean?" he exclaimed, on the verge of tears.

The flames licking at the hardwood finally came in close. The heat pressed against his face. He grimaced, gritting his teeth as he tried to pull his face away. A black cloud washed over him, painting his eyes, staining them, blinding them... Blackness took over. He couldn't see, but he could feel the ever increasing heat taking hold of his metal. Fever wracked his body. More warning signs flashed behind his eyes.

"Zane! Lloyd! Help! HELP ME!"

* * *

"Jay!" Lloyd exclaimed, charging to his brother's side. Jay leaned against a cop car, attended to by one of the paramedic's who'd arrived. He looked up as Lloyd dropped to his knees beside him.

"Thank the First Spinjitzu Master!" he panted, wrapping him in a hug. Jay managed a weak, half smile, soot smudging his freckles.

Zane looked around. "Jay, where is Echo?"

Jay looked up at him as Lloyd pulled away, the lightning ninja's eyes full of concern. "After he pulled me out, he might have gone back in."

Zane stumbled in shock, eyes flying open. "Why?!"

"Someone else was in there..." A tremble entered Jay's voice, tinted with guilt.

All the breath seemed to have been knocked out of Zane. He wheeled on the hall, jaw agape, and would have taken off towards it, but staggered.

"Look!" Lloyd pointed to the figures bounding over the rooftops.

* * *

"Zane! Zane!" Echo wept. The embers were roasting him alive. He couldn't see anything! All he could process were the alarms ringing in his head, the crackle of flames, the burns on his skin, and his own screams.

Some other part of the building fell with a crash. Echo writhed in place, burns flaring across his face, neck, and shoulders.

More explosions of sound met his ears like an army of footsteps. The ground under his head vibrated.

"You called for backup?!" Kai shouted dramatically.

Echo cried in joy and in pain. So it _was_ footsteps! His family had come for him! Someone fell by his head, spraying ash. They worked to push the debris off of him, another sibling joining them, hissing as they burned their hands. The weight crushing him decreased. Echo sobbed quietly.

Cold hands touched his face and wiped away the black grime from his eyes. He looked up into Zane's gaze, surprised by the intense fierceness of his expression, jaw clenched, and eyes wild, fiery and cold all at once.

Kai yelled, and with great effort, began drawing all the fire to him - every last flame! It burned around him until he blazed with the intensity of a star. He screamed, his voice all but smothered.

Nya yelled with fury, and began to summon a giant swell of water. It swirled around her, growing with every second. Sweat poured off of her, Cole, and Lloyd under the heat of the fireball in front of them, and they coughed. Nya ordered the water to encompass the room. It bent and twisted like a giant serpent, glowing the colour of amber. Soon it had the blaze surrounded. The effect was the appearance of a massive glass lantern.

Then the water dove inwards, and there was a crashing hiss of steam. White vapour poured everywhere, filling each corner of the room, and rolling through the doors.

One of them coughed, and a bit of rubble tumbled to the ground.

"Is everyone okay?" Kai asked.

Everybody looked at each other. Smoke still clung to the ceiling and walls, and now white fog hovered over the floors. All eyes landed on Echo, who still hadn't got up. Cole moved to help him, but burnt his hand and jumped back with a yelp.

"Sorry," Echo mumbled.

"Oh my gosh!" Nya said, voice watery.

Zane, frost crystalizing on his fingers, brushed away the last of the rubble, and lifted Echo under the arms so he sat up on his knees. Echo grimaced. The burns from his shoulders up throbbed, as did the dents and bruises in his back. Zane wore a pained look. "Echo, you must get up." Around them, their siblings were trying not to cough.

Murmuring something, Echo tried to stand. He rose one slow inch at a time, knees bent, gaze dull.

"Is something broken?" Cole asked.

"His system is overheating," Zane replied, not taking his eyes off his younger brother. "He is lucky he did not shut down..." he said more quietly.

At last, Echo stood almost at his full height. It hurt to move. The burns... the burns were nearly all he could think about.

"We can get a stretcher," Nya said. "Then we can get him to Borg's, and decide who's going with him, and who's... going with Jay to the hospital."

"Let's go, then," Kai headed for the door, coughing.

Eyelids drooping, Echo smiled at Zane and said, "Thank you for coming back for me."

* * *

Echo found it fascinating that, like robots, humans malfunctioned and needed repairs, too. Sometimes their limbs were even replaced, and skin and vital organs could be transplanted. He had already learned this from Borg during one of his first visits with him, but he was reminded of it when he found out Jay had gone to the hospital. In Echo's mind, Borg was_ his _doctor. He hoped Jay's doctor was as kind as the inventor was.

"I'm certain Jay will be fine," Borg smiled as he put one of his tools away in a drawer. The hydraulics whispered as it closed.

"I'm glad," Echo sighed. Lloyd, Nya, and Cole had gone with him, while Zane and Kai had rushed Echo to Borg Industries in Kai's car. Echo wished he could go to the hospital to see Jay, too. He was most curious to see how a human was repaired.

"I'm sure you are," Borg chuckled. "You might be the most glad, most generous person I have ever met. And it would seem you are one of the bravest, too."

"Braver than that stone-hearted..." Kai mumbled, arms crossed, from where he leaned against a monitor. "I 'oughta set her on fire!" In telling them what had happened, Echo had mentioned the woman he'd saved, and how she'd run off.

"Kai, be quiet," Zane scolded beside him. He wore a stern expression, but didn't bother looking at his hot headed brother.

"It's all over now, anyway," Borg wheeled over to where the three were standing, and settled back in his chair. "Your system has been stabilized, the dents buffered out, your burns treated..." There were still faint scars where the metal had boiled and peeled, but the pain had faded. "And now you will have the ability to keep in touch if similar situations should ever arise." Smirking, Borg tapped his own ear to illustrate the new com-link. "The tracking beacon I installed, as well, is connected both to Zane, and the Bounty. Chances of you getting lost are now quite slim."

"All patched up!" Kai finished.

"Thank you," Zane said. Echo smiled.

"You've had quite the adventure. All of you. Let me know in the morning how you slept tonight. Especially you, Echo."

The door slid open, and closed behind Lloyd as he walked into the room.

"Lloyd!" Echo exclaimed, running forward a few steps. "Is Jay okay?"

The Green Ninja smiled. "Jay's fine. He's headed home. I wanted to see how you were doing."

"All patched up!" Echo beamed, holding his arms out. Kai chuckled behind him.

"You look great!" Lloyd said. "Well, I guess we all do, considering what happened. I can tell Jay he can stop worrying, now."

"Can I go see him?"

"Oh Echo, there is one more upgrade we have to make."

Echo turned to Borg in surprise. "What is it?"

With his typical smirk, Borg picked up a bundle from his desk and handed it over to the droid. Echo took it and held it up. The bundle's tie fell to the floor, and the fabric slipped from its folded state to reveal the full garment.

A gi, beige in colour, with a gold, clockwork dragon winding around the torso, hung from his fingers. The cloth was light and soft, yet he could tell it was durable. The gi would weather well. And it was for him. Designed only for him by the man he had allowed to access his innermost self the past couple weeks. It wrinkled under his hands, causing the dragon to slither in place, its geared scales glinting.

"It is..." Echo couldn't quite get his jaw to work. He stared at the gi, mouth open, eyes round with wonder. "It is so beautiful!" he breathed.

"I'm glad you like it," Borg said, softly and fondly.

Lloyd bent down, picked up the belt that had fallen to the floor, and handed it to the nindroid. "Welcome to the Ninja team, Echo," he smiled.

* * *

When they returned to the Bounty with Echo wearing his gi - along with a huge smile - Jay was furious.

"I can't believe you would hold his official ninja ceremony without me!"

"There was no ceremony, Jay," Zane said.

"Well then I want one! We gotta make this official!"

So it was arranged, and later Jay managed to get Sensei to conduct it at the Monastery. Despite (or maybe because of) Jay's efforts to make it super serious, most everyone had the giggles through the entire process of Wu spinjitzu-ing Echo into the gi and then saying some (mostly) inspirational words. By the end of it, even Jay was laughing. Sensei Wu stepped back and watched his students with deep warmth in his eyes.

Night came, and drowsiness settled over Echo Zane.

He paced back and forth across the moonlit deck of the Destiney's Bounty, trying to focus on the nippy night air, on keeping his steps quick. His eyelids would droop, and then he would force them wide open. He looked at the sails. He noted the wind whispering through them. He studied the way the moon glowed through the pale fabric. Something in the back of his mind begged him to close his eyes and lie down.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs leading below deck. He quit pacing and turned around to see Zane step onto the deck in his pajamas. The titanium droid walked over and joined him under the starry sky.

"Are you star gazing?" he asked, sounding happy and relaxed.

"Something is happening to me."

Zane became concerned. "What is wrong?"

"I want to close me eyes," Echo explained, rubbing them. "I feel like I am shutting down!"

The tension in Zane's shoulders melted away. "You are only tired," he explained. "Cyrus Borg told you that you would be able to sleep tonight."

"I don't like it." Echo started pacing again. Zane watched his eyelids grow heavier. He sighed.

"Come, Echo." He took his brother's shoulder and led him downstairs.

Everyone else was in bed. Their quarters were dark, and when they went in, only Cole lifted his head long enough to see who it was. The sheets rustled as he lay back down.

Zane gestured to his bunk, and Echo warily climbed in under the blanket. Zane adjusted the sleeping bag on the floor, where he would sleep, before sitting down on the edge of the bed. Echo sat with his hands gripping the blanket, staring at Zane.

"You have to lie down to fall asleep," he said.

Echo frowned.

Zane offered a sympathetic smile. "Come on."

After a moment, Echo fell back onto the pillow with a soft_ thump_.

Zane chuckled.

"Will it hurt?"

"Sleeping does not hurt. We wouldn't do it every night if it did."

"Hmm..." Echo's eyelids sagged. Just before they closed, he snapped them open again.

"What will it be like?"

"You'll relax, and then everything will go dark, but it only seems to last a short amount of time. It's peaceful. You might even dream."

Echo sat up a bit, eyes round with curiosity. "What's a dream?"

"I suppose it is like watching pictures or memories in your head."

Echo lay back down again. "Interesting..."

Zane yawned, and covered his mouth. His yawn made Echo yawn, and he giggled.

"That means we're both tired," Zane smiled.

Echo let his eyes rest. He listened to the gentle breathing of the others in the room. They were so calm in sleep. Were they dreaming? What were dreams like? He felt shadows press in around him, and a spark of anxiety flickered in his stomach.

"You are sure nothing bad will happen?" What if he never woke up?

"Nothing will happen, and we will all be here in the morning. You are safe. I promise."

Safe... Echo closed his eyes. The darkness seemed to tuck him in after that - like a blanket, velvety and welcoming. He let it cover him. He focused on Zane's voice, his promise that everything would be fine. And he thought of dreams. If he slept, he would no longer be tired in the morning, right? How fascinating.

At last he sank into the pillow, unafraid of the shadows pressing against his eyelids. And for the first time in his life, Echo drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**Oof. I figured this chapter was going to be long, but this is looooooong. I hope I never write one this length again! XD (Oh gods! If somehow all 6k+ words vanished, I would cry. I don't think I'd ever write another chapter.) **

**I had a tiny bit of trouble coming up with the plot for this one (also there may be a plot hole in how Echo's scanner works) but OH MY FREAKING GOSH! The excitement in this chapter was SO fun to write! :D I got my sister to read a sentence of it (that sentence ended up in the summary :P) and she FREAKED! Like, she slapped me. And then went into shock after screaming a lot. XD So dramatic. I hope this wasn't _too_ dramatic. A lot of adrenaline went into this. _I _freaked out a couple times! :P I hope you guys freaked out. Rereading it, there I definitely things I would change, and I plan to edit a bit more, but hopefully it's still enjoyable.**

**Also, what do ya think of the woman Echo saved? I wanted a plot twist and shocked myself by creating this *****. She's obviously only looking out for herself, but I figured a big reason she just left him was because he's a robot, and has "less value" than a human. I don't think I made that clear, though. **

**Isabella camovic, I'm sorry your last request didn't feature here. Unfortunately, a request my sister made didn't make it all the way, either. This chapter was just so determined to disobey me!**

**#IHaven'tForgottentheElementalDragons (Also, I know Zane said in season 2 that nindroids can't dream, but to heck with that!)**

**Let me know your thoughts, guys. And a HUGE thanks to anyone who even bothered to read this! Have a great day!**


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